CN107003027A - Air conditioner and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

The air conditioner and the control method thereof perform cooling through the outlet to reduce the indoor temperature or the indoor humidity if the indoor temperature or the indoor humidity is high; the air conditioner and the control method thereof close the outlet to cool at a low speed through the outlet hole if the indoor temperature or the indoor humidity reaches a predetermined value, so that the user hardly senses the wind speed of cooling of the air conditioner while maintaining the indoor space at a comfortable temperature or humidity. By performing cooling at a low speed through an outlet hole formed at a lower portion of the air conditioner, a lower region of the indoor space can be cooled to a comfortable temperature when a user is asleep.

Description

Air conditioner and its control method

technical field

The following description relates to an air conditioner and a control method thereof.

Background technique

An air conditioner is an electrical appliance that uses a refrigeration cycle to maintain indoor air comfortable for human activities. An air conditioner cools an indoor space by drawing in warm air from the indoor space, exchanging heat between the warm air and a low-temperature refrigerant, and discharging the heat-exchanged air to the indoor space. In addition, the air conditioner may heat the indoor space through the reverse operation.

The air conditioner may cool or heat an indoor space by circulating air in a forward or reverse direction through a refrigeration cycle performed by a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. The compressor provides high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas, and the condenser provides room-temperature, high-pressure liquid refrigerant. The expansion valve decompresses the liquid refrigerant at room temperature and high pressure, and the evaporator evaporates the depressurized refrigerant into a low-temperature gaseous state.

Air conditioners may be classified into a split type air conditioner in which an outdoor unit is separated from an indoor unit, and a window type air conditioner in which an outdoor unit and an indoor unit are integrated into one main body.

In the case of a split type air conditioner in which an outdoor unit is separated from an indoor unit, generally, a compressor and a condenser (outdoor heat exchanger) are included in the outdoor unit, and an evaporator (indoor heat exchanger) is included in the indoor unit. Refrigerant may circulate and flow between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit through pipes connecting the indoor unit to the outdoor unit. At the lower part of the indoor unit of the split type air conditioner, a blower fan is provided; and at the upper part of the indoor unit, a heat exchanger and an outlet for air discharge are provided. The air sucked in and blown out by the blower fan moves to the upper part of the indoor unit, and the air moved to the upper part is discharged to the indoor space through the heat exchanger and the outlet.

On the other hand, an air conditioner may also provide a dehumidification function in addition to a cooling function. The dehumidification function provided by conventional air conditioners is accompanied by a cooling effect. However, in order to meet the user's requirement of only dehumidification, it is necessary to realize the dehumidification function without cooling effect.

Recently, research on an air conditioner capable of reducing the wind speed of air discharged through an outlet as much as possible so that a user can hardly feel the wind speed of the air while maintaining an indoor space at a comfortable temperature has been actively conducted. In addition, technology to prevent condensation in air conditioners has been developed.

Contents of the invention

technical problem

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an air conditioner and a control method of the air conditioner, which can perform cooling through an outlet to reduce the indoor temperature or indoor humidity if the indoor temperature or indoor humidity is high; and if the indoor temperature or indoor humidity reaches If the predetermined value is set, the air conditioner can close the outlet and perform cooling at a low speed through the outlet hole, so that the user can hardly feel the cooling wind speed of the air conditioner, while maintaining the indoor space at a comfortable temperature or humidity. In addition, by performing cooling at a low speed through the outlet hole formed in the lower portion of the air conditioner, it is possible to cool the lower area of the indoor space to a comfortable temperature when the user is asleep.

In addition, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an air conditioner capable of preventing condensation by operating a blower fan based on time and temperature when the blower fan is stopped, and a control method of the air conditioner.

In addition, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an air conditioner capable of providing a dehumidification function with a low cooling effect.

Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

problem solution

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an air conditioner includes: a casing, a heat exchanger, a blower fan, an outlet, an outlet hole, and a controller, wherein the heat exchanger is configured to exchange heat with air sucked into the casing; the blower fan is configured to moving the heat-exchanged air to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing; the outlet is configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing; an outlet hole is formed in the housing and configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air air; and the controller configured to close the outlet if the indoor temperature reaches a predetermined value, and discharge heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole thereby maintaining the indoor temperature at the predetermined value.

A plurality of outlets are provided, and if the indoor temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the controller may close a part of the plurality of outlets to discharge heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole.

If the indoor temperature is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the controller may reduce a revolution per minute (RPM) of the blower fan to reduce a speed of air discharged through the outlet hole.

If the indoor temperature is greater than a predetermined value, the controller may open the outlet.

If the indoor temperature is greater than a predetermined value, the controller may increase a revolution per minute (RPM) of the blower fan to increase a velocity of air discharged through at least one of the opened outlet and the outlet hole.

The air conditioner may further include an input unit configured to receive a control command to close the outlet from a user so that the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the outlet hole.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an air conditioner includes: a casing, a heat exchanger, a blower fan, an outlet, an outlet hole, and a controller, wherein the heat exchanger is configured to exchange heat with air sucked into the casing; the blower fan is configured to moving the heat-exchanged air to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing; the outlet is configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing; an outlet hole is formed on the housing and configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air air; and the controller configured to close the outlet if the indoor humidity reaches a predetermined value, and discharge heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole to maintain the indoor humidity at the predetermined value.

A plurality of outlets are provided, and if indoor humidity is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the controller may close a part of the plurality of outlets to discharge heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole.

If the indoor humidity is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the controller may reduce a revolution per minute (RPM) of the blower fan to reduce a velocity of air discharged through the outlet hole.

If the indoor humidity is greater than a predetermined value, the controller may open the outlet.

If the indoor humidity is greater than a predetermined value, the controller may increase a revolution per minute (RPM) of the blower fan to increase a velocity of air discharged through at least one of the opened outlet and the outlet hole.

The air conditioner may further include an input unit configured to receive information on indoor humidity of a space where the air conditioner is located.

The air conditioner may further include a storage unit configured to store information on an indoor temperature of a space where the air conditioner is located.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an air conditioner includes: a casing, a heat exchanger, a blower fan, an outlet, an outlet hole, and a controller, wherein the heat exchanger is configured to exchange heat with air sucked into the inside of the casing; the blower fan configures To move the heat-exchanged air to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing; the outlet is configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing; the outlet hole is formed on the housing and configured to discharge the heat-exchanged and the controller configured to: if condensation is determined to occur after the outlet is closed and the blower fan stops rotating, then rotate the blower fan to discharge the heat-exchanged air through the outlet aperture.

A plurality of outlets are provided, a plurality of blower fans corresponding to the plurality of outlets are provided, and if it is determined that condensation occurs after a part of the plurality of outlets is closed and a part of the plurality of blower fans corresponding to the closed outlet stops rotating , the controller may rotate the blower fan to discharge the heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole.

The controller may rotate the blower fan at predetermined time intervals.

The controller rotates the blower fan for a predetermined period.

Whether condensation occurs is determined based on at least one of time and a temperature of a front panel provided in the housing.

The controller may determine that condensation occurs if a predetermined period of time elapses after the blower fan stops rotating.

The controller may determine that condensation has occurred if the temperature of the front panel is equal to or less than the dew point temperature.

Beneficial Effects of the Invention

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an air conditioner and a control method of the air conditioner, which can perform cooling through an outlet to reduce the indoor temperature or indoor humidity if the indoor temperature or indoor humidity is high; and if the indoor temperature or indoor humidity reaches If the predetermined value is set, the air conditioner can close the outlet and perform cooling at a low speed through the outlet hole, so that the user can hardly feel the cooling wind speed of the air conditioner, while maintaining the indoor space at a comfortable temperature or humidity. In addition, by performing cooling at a low speed through the outlet hole formed in the lower portion of the air conditioner, it is possible to cool the lower area of the indoor space to a comfortable temperature when the user is asleep.

In addition, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an air conditioner capable of preventing condensation by operating a blower fan based on time and temperature when the blower fan is stopped, and a control method of the air conditioner.

In addition, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an air conditioner capable of providing a dehumidification function with a low cooling effect.

Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

Description of drawings

The above and/or other aspects of the present disclosure will become more apparent and easy to understand through the following descriptions of embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an air conditioner when an outlet is opened according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

4 is a cross-sectional view of the air conditioner of FIG. 1 taken along line A-A' for describing air flow in a first mode cooling operation performed when an outlet is opened according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure when an outlet is closed.

6 is a cross-sectional view of the air conditioner of FIG. 1 taken along line A-A' for describing air flow in a second mode cooling operation performed through at least one outlet hole when the outlet is closed according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a control block diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual view for describing a refrigeration process in which heat-exchanged air is discharged through an outlet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9A is a graph illustrating changes in indoor temperature according to a control method of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9B is a graph showing changes in indoor temperature according to a control method of an air conditioner for each cycle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

10 is a schematic diagram for describing a cooling process in which heat-exchanged air is discharged through an outlet hole when an outlet is closed, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates an outlet aperture formed in a second region of the front panel in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

13 is a control block diagram of a configuration for condensation prevention control included in an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the air conditioner for describing condensation occurring on the front panel of the air conditioner.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram for describing an air conditioner operation for preventing condensation on a front panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

16A and 16B are flowcharts illustrating a method of controlling an air conditioner to prevent condensation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

17 is a control block diagram of a configuration of an air conditioner that discharges heat-exchanged air through a second outlet provided in a lower case.

18 is an exploded perspective view of an air conditioner including a lower blower fan according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram for describing an operation of discharging heat-exchanged air moved to a lower case to the outside through a second outlet hole according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

20A and 20B are flowcharts illustrating a method of controlling an air conditioner to discharge heat-exchanged air through a second outlet provided in a lower case of the air conditioner, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 illustrates an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22 shows the front side of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 21 .

FIG. 23 shows a state when the front panel of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 21 is disassembled.

FIG. 24 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 21 .

Fig. 25 is a cross-sectional view of the indoor unit shown in Fig. 21 .

FIG. 26 is an enlarged view of area "A" of FIG. 25 .

FIG. 27 is a control block diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

28 , 29 and 30 are flowcharts illustrating a method of controlling an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

detailed description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present disclosure by referring to the figures.

The advantageous effects and features of the present disclosure and a method of achieving the same will be apparent by referring to the embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The configurations shown in the embodiments and the drawings described in this specification are merely embodiments of the present disclosure, so it is understood that various modified examples that can replace the embodiments and drawings described in this specification are possible.

Terms used in this specification are used to describe the embodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure is for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. It is to be understood that the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should be understood that when the terms "comprising" and "comprising" are used in this specification, it means that there are stated features, figures, steps, components or their combination, but it does not exclude storing or adding one or more other features and figures. , steps, components, components, or combinations thereof.

It will be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various components, these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. For example, a first component could be termed a second component, and, similarly, a second component could be termed a first component, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Hereinafter, an air conditioner and a control method thereof will be described in detail according to embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same elements, and their overlapping descriptions will be omitted.

In a conventional air conditioner, the indoor unit is designed to minimize the heat exchanger, and to increase the revolution per minute (RPM) of the blower fan to maximize the wind speed and volume. Therefore, the temperature of the discharge air is lowered, and the air forms a long and narrow path to be discharged to the indoor space.

Therefore, when a user directly contacts the discharged air, he/she may feel cold and uncomfortable; and when he/she does not contact the discharged air, he/she may feel stuffy and uncomfortable.

Also, increasing the RPM of the blower fan in order to achieve high air speeds will result in increased noise. On the other hand, radiant air conditioners that condition the air without using any blower fans require large panels to achieve the same performance as air conditioners that use blower fans. In addition, radiant air conditioners have a very low cooling rate and require high construction costs.

The air conditioner may include a heat exchanger that exchanges heat with air sucked into the inside of a casing forming its appearance, and a blower fan that sucks indoor air into the inside of the casing and blows the air out to the interior space.

However, when the air flows through the blower fan, the conditioned air can be discharged directly toward the target through the outlet of the housing. In this case, the subject may be in direct contact with conditioned air and thus feel uncomfortable due to localized cooling or localized heating.

In the following description, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with respect to a cooling operation of an air conditioner. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to the heating operation of the air conditioner.

The refrigeration cycle that makes up an air conditioner can be performed by a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. The refrigeration cycle performs a series of processes of compression-condensation-expansion-evaporation to exchange heat between high-temperature air and low-temperature refrigerant, and then supply low-temperature air to an indoor space.

The compressor may compress refrigerant gas to a high-temperature, high-pressure state, and discharge the compressed refrigerant gas to the condenser. The condenser condenses the compressed refrigerant gas to a liquid state and dissipates heat to the environment during the condensation process. The expansion valve can expand the liquid refrigerant in a high-temperature and high-pressure state condensed by the condenser into a liquid refrigerant in a low-pressure state. The evaporator evaporates the refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve. The evaporator can achieve a cooling effect by exchanging heat with an object to be cooled using latent heat of evaporation of the refrigerant, and can return refrigerant gas in a low-temperature, low-pressure state to the compressor. Through the cycle, the air temperature of the indoor space can be adjusted.

The outdoor unit of the air conditioner may be part of a refrigeration cycle and equipped with a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger. The expansion valve may be installed in any one of the indoor unit and the outdoor unit, and the indoor heat exchanger may be installed in the indoor unit of the air conditioner.

The present disclosure relates to an air conditioner for cooling an indoor space, in which an outdoor heat exchanger functions as a condenser and an indoor heat exchanger functions as an evaporator. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, an indoor unit including an indoor heat exchanger will be referred to as an air conditioner, and the indoor heat exchanger will be referred to as a heat exchanger.

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the air conditioner when the outlet is opened according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 4 is According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cross-sectional view of the air conditioner of FIG. 1 taken along the line AA' is used to describe the flow of air in the first mode cooling operation performed when the outlet is opened, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. A perspective view of the air conditioner when the outlet is closed, and FIG. 6 is along the line AA' for describing the flow of air in the second mode cooling operation performed through at least one outlet hole when the outlet is closed according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The intercepted cross-sectional view of the air conditioner in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , an indoor unit of an air conditioner 1 (hereinafter referred to as an air conditioner 1 ) may include: a casing 10 , a heat exchanger 20 , a blower unit 30 and an outlet 41 , wherein the casing 10 has at least one opening 17 And form the appearance of the air conditioner 1; the heat exchanger 20 is configured to exchange heat with the air sucked into the inside of the casing 10; the blower unit 30 is configured to circulate the air to the inside or outside of the casing 10; and the outlet 41 is configured to pass through Air blown by the blower unit 30 is discharged to the outside of the casing 10 . The outlets 41 may include a first outlet 41a, a second outlet 41b, and a third outlet 41c.

The housing 10 may include a front panel 10a, a rear panel 10b, a side panel 10c, and upper and lower panels 10d, wherein at least one opening 17 is formed in the front panel 10a, and the rear panel 10b is disposed behind the front panel 10a. , the side panel 10c is disposed between the front panel 10a and the rear panel 10b, and the upper and lower panels 10d are disposed above and below the side panel 10c. At least one opening 17 may be circular in shape. For example, at least two or more openings 17 may be formed in the front panel 10a in the up-down direction at regular intervals. In the rear panel 10 b , an inlet 19 may be formed to suck external air into the inside of the case 10 .

An inlet 19 may be provided in a rear panel 10 b provided behind the heat exchanger 20 to guide external air into the inside of the housing 10 . Air entering the interior of housing 10 through inlet 19 may pass through heat exchanger 20 absorbing or losing heat. The air heat-exchanged by the heat exchanger 20 may be discharged to the outside of the case 10 through the outlet 41 via the blower unit 30 .

The blower unit 30 may include a blower fan 32 and a blower grill 34 .

The blower rack 34 may be located in a direction in which the blower fan 32 discharges air. According to an embodiment, the blower fan 32 may be a mixed flow fan although not limited thereto, and may have any structure such that air sucked from the outside of the case 10 can be discharged to the outside of the case 10 . For example, blower fan 32 may be a cross-flow fan, a turbo fan, or a multi-blade fan. The number of blower fans 32 is not limited, and at least one blower fan 32 may be provided corresponding to at least one opening 17 according to an embodiment.

The blower unit 30 may include a fan driver 37 disposed at the center of the blower fan 32 and configured to drive the blower fan 32 . The fan driver 37 may include a drive motor 33 .

A blower rack 34 may be provided at the front of the blower fan 32 to guide the flow of air. In addition, the blower rack 34 may be disposed between the blower fan 32 and the outlet 41 to minimize external influence of the blower fan 32 .

The blower frame 34 may include a plurality of blades 35 . The number, shape and angle of the plurality of blades 35 may be varied to adjust the direction or volume of the air blown from the blower fan 32 to the outlet 41 .

A door operating member 66 to be described later may pass through the center of the blower frame 34 . The door operating member 66 and the fan driver 37 may be aligned on the same straight line in the front-rear direction. According to the above configuration, the plurality of blades 35 of the blower frame 34 may be disposed in front of the plurality of blades of the blower fan 32 .

The blower unit 30 may include a duct 36 . The air duct 36 may be in the shape of a circle surrounding the blower fan 32 and directs the flow of air to the blower fan 32 .

The heat exchanger 20 may be disposed between the blower fan 32 and the inlet 19 and may absorb heat from or transfer heat to air drawn through the inlet 19 . The heat exchanger 20 may include a tube 21 and a header 22 , wherein the header 22 is coupled with upper and lower parts of the tube 21 . However, the kind of heat exchanger 20 is not limited.

In the interior of the housing 10 , at least one heat exchanger 20 can be mounted corresponding to the at least one opening 17 .

The air conditioner 1 is operable in various operating modes. The various modes of operation may include a first mode in which the heat-exchanged air is discharged through at least one outlet 41 and a second mode in which the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the outlet plate Outlet hole 50 on 14 discharges.

More specifically, in the first mode, the air conditioner 1 may perform cooling through at least one outlet 41 such that heat-exchanged air is discharged to the outside of the air conditioner 1 through the opened first to third outlets 41a to 41c. At this time, the air conditioner 1 may sense the indoor temperature and selectively open any one of the first to third outlets 41a to 41c according to the sensed indoor temperature, thereby performing the cooling operation in the first mode.

In the second mode, the air conditioner 1 can perform cooling through the outlet hole 50 so that the first to third outlets 41a to 41c are closed and the heat-exchanged heat is discharged through the outlet hole 50 when the indoor temperature reaches a desired temperature preset by the user. air, thereby maintaining a comfortable temperature in the interior space at a low velocity.

In other words, the air heat-exchanged through the heat exchanger 20 may be discharged to the outside of the air conditioner 1 through the blower fan 32 through at least one outlet 41 and at least one outlet hole 50 .

In the first mode, the heat-exchanged air may be discharged through the outlet 41 . However, a part of the heat-exchanged air may be discharged through the outlet hole 50 . In other words, in the first mode, the main part of the heat-exchanged air can be discharged through the outlet 41 . Also, in the second mode, a major part of the heat-exchanged air may be discharged through the outlet hole 50 .

Air passing through the blower unit 30 may be discharged to the outside of the housing 10 through the outlet 41 .

When the air conditioner 1 is in the first mode, the heat-exchanged air may be discharged to the outside of the housing 10 through the outlet 41 . The outlet 41 may directly discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside. The outlet 41 may be exposed to the outside of the case 10 . The outlet 41 may be located in a direction in which the blower fan 32 blows air to directly discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside. The air blown out by the blower fan 32 may flow through a first discharge path 41d (see FIG. 4 ) formed between the blower fan 32 and the outlet 41 . The first discharge path 41d may be formed by the discharge guide member 45 .

The outlet 41 may be formed by an opening guide 43 . The opening guide 43 may be exposed to the outside through the opening 17 of the housing 10 . A door unit 60 , which will be described later, is movable to stay on the opening guide 43 . The opening guide 43 may be located around the opening 17 of the housing 10 to form the outlet 41 along the inner circumference.

The outlets 41 may include a first outlet 41 a second outlet 41 b and a third outlet 41 c each having a door operating member 66 . In other words, the first outlet 41a may include a first door operating member 66a, the second outlet 41b may include a second door operating member 66b, and the third outlet 41c may include a third door operating member 66c.

The outlet 41 may be opened or closed via the door unit 60 .

The door unit 60 may open or close the outlet 41 so that the heat-exchanged air may be selectively discharged to the outside of the case 10 through the outlet 41 .

The door unit 60 is movable between a door open position 60a in which the outlet 41 is opened and a door closed position 60b in which the outlet 41 is closed. The door unit 60 is movable in the front-rear direction between a door open position 60a and a door close position 60b.

More specifically, the door unit 60 may include a door blade 62 and a door operating member 66 for operating the door blade 62 .

The door blade 62 may have a circular shape corresponding to the shape of the outlet 41 . The door blade 62 may be spaced apart from the opening guide 43 when the door unit 60 is in the door open position 60a, and may contact the opening guide 43 to close the outlet 41 when the door unit 60 is in the door close position 60b.

The door blade 62 may include a blade body 63 having a circular shape corresponding to the outlet 41 and a blade coupling member 64 extending from the blade body 63 and coupled with a door operating member 66 .

The blade body 63 may have a shape close to a circular plate. In addition, one surface of the blade body 63 may face the outside of the housing 10 , and the other surface of the blade body 63 may face the blower unit 30 .

On one surface of the blade main body 63 , a display may be provided to display an operating state of the air conditioner 1 or to allow a user to manipulate the air conditioner 1 .

The door operating element 66 moves the door blade 62 . Door operating element 66 may include a motor (not shown). The door operating element 66 may be coupled with the blade coupling element 64 of the door blade 62 to move the door blade 62 .

The blower mount 34 may be disposed around the door operating element 66 . Air blown from the blower fan 32 disposed behind the blower frame 34 may pass through the blower frame 34 to be discharged in a forward direction.

When the air conditioner 1 is in the second mode, the heat-exchanged air may be discharged to the outside of the housing 10 through the outlet hole 50 . With this configuration, the heat-exchanged air can be discharged to the outside at a low wind speed. In the drain pan 14, a plurality of drain holes 50 may be formed.

When the heat-exchanged air is discharged to the outside through the outlet hole 50 , the air blown by the blower fan 32 may flow through the second discharge path 50 a formed between the blower fan 32 and the outlet hole 50 . The second discharge path 50a may be formed by the discharge guide member 45 and a discharge panel which will be described later.

The drain panel may include a path shaping frame 13 and a drain pan 14 .

A discharge panel may be provided to form the second discharge path 50a. The heat-exchanged air may be discharged to the outside of the air conditioner 1 at a low speed through a second discharge path 50a formed by a discharge panel and a discharge pan 14 to be described later.

The flow shaping frame 13 may partition the second discharge path 50 a inside the case 10 . The flow shaping frame 13 prevents the heat-exchanged air from reentering the interior of the housing 10 . According to an embodiment, the flow shaping frame 13 may extend from the blower frame 34 and connect to an exterior panel (not shown).

An outlet hole 50 may be formed in the drain pan 14 . However, the shape of the outlet hole 50 is not limited, and in the current embodiment of the present disclosure, a plurality of outlet holes 50 may be provided. The outlet hole 50 may penetrate the drain disc 14 .

The outlet aperture 50 may include a discharge area. In the discharge area, the plurality of outlet holes 50 may be evenly or non-uniformly distributed. According to an embodiment, a plurality of outlet holes 50 may be evenly distributed in the discharge area.

A drain area may be formed in at least a portion of the drain pan 14 . However, a discharge area may be formed in the entire discharge pan 14 .

The outlet 41 may include a first discharge path 41d and a second discharge path 50a.

Air blown by the blower fan 32 may flow through at least one of the first discharge path 41d and the second discharge path 50a.

In the first mode, the air blown by the blower fan 32 may flow through the first discharge path 41 d formed between the blower fan 32 and the outlet 41 . In addition, in the second mode, the air blown by the blower fan 32 may flow through the second discharge path 50 a formed between the blower fan 32 and the outlet hole 50 .

The outlet 41 may include a discharge guide element 45 . The air blown by the blower fan 32 can be controlled by the discharge guide element 45 . A discharge guide member 45 may be provided at the front of the blower unit 30 such that air blown from the blower unit 30 may flow through at least one of the first discharge path 41d and the second discharge path 50a.

The discharge guide member 45 may include a guide body 46 and a guide groove 47 .

The guide body 46 may internally form a first discharge path 41d. The guide body 46 may have a cylindrical shape with a hollow interior. More specifically, the guide body 46 may be in the shape of a duct having one end facing the blower unit 30 and the other end facing the outlet 41 .

The guide groove 47 may pass through the second discharge path 50a. A guide groove 47 may be formed in the guide body 46 . The shape of the guide groove 47 is not limited, and the guide groove 47 may have any structure that may be formed in the guide body 46 and allow air to flow in an outward direction of the guide body 46 . In the current embodiment, the guide groove 47 may be a plurality of holes formed along the circumference of the guide body 46 .

In the first mode, the door unit 60 may open the outlet 41 . In this case, air blown from the blower unit 30 may pass through a first discharge path 41 d formed inside the guide body 46 and then be discharged to the outlet 41 .

In the second mode, the door unit 60 may close the outlet 41 . In this case, one end of the guide body 46 may be blocked by the door unit 60 so that air blown from the blower unit 30 may pass through the guide groove 47 formed in the guide body 46 and then be discharged to the outlet hole 50 .

Hereinafter, the operation of the air conditioner 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

Air drawn into the housing 10 from the outside may be heat-exchanged by the heat exchanger 20 . Air conditioned by the heat exchanger 20 may be discharged to the outside of the case 10 through the blower unit 30 .

The air conditioner 1 may discharge the air passing through the heat exchanger 20 to the outside through at least one of the outlet 41 and the outlet hole 50 . In other words, in the first mode, the air conditioner 1 may discharge air through the outlet 41 to perform centralized air conditioning, and in the second mode, the air conditioner 1 may discharge air through the outlet hole 50 to perform air conditioning that spreads slowly throughout the indoor space.

The outlet 41 can operate the door unit 60 to open or close the door unit 60 . If the outlet 41 is opened, the heat-exchanged air may be discharged through the outlet 41 , and if the outlet 41 is closed, the heat-exchanged air may be discharged through the outlet hole 50 .

The first mode will be described in detail as follows. In the first mode, the heat-exchanged air may be discharged through the outlet 41 . In the first mode, the door unit 60 may be in the door open position 60 a, and the door blade 62 and the opening guide 43 may be spaced apart from each other to open the outlet 41 .

In this case, the air blown from the blower unit 30 may flow to the outlet 41 through the first discharge path 41 d formed by the guide body 46 .

When the air is discharged to the outside of the case 10 through the outlet 41 , the air may be discharged at the wind speed applied by the blower unit 30 .

Then, the second mode will be described. In the second mode, air heat-exchanged through the outlet hole 50 may be discharged. In the second mode, the door unit 60 may be in the door closing position 60b, and the door blade 62 may contact the opening guide 43 so that the outlet 41 may be closed.

In this case, since the outlet 41 is blocked by the door blade 62 , the air flowing out from the blower unit 30 may pass through the guide groove 47 formed in the guide body 46 . Thus, air blown from the blower unit 30 may pass through the second discharge path 50 a to flow to the outlet hole 50 .

When air is discharged to the outside of the housing 10 through the outlet holes 50 , the wind speed of the air may be reduced as the air passes through the plurality of outlet holes 50 of the outlet disk 14 so that the air discharged to the outside is at a low speed.

Through the configuration, the air conditioner 1 can cool or heat the indoor space at a wind speed that is comfortable for the user.

FIG. 7 is a control block diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 7 , an air conditioner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include: an input unit 200 , a controller 300 , a sensor 400 , a storage unit 500 and first to third outlets 41 a to 41 c, wherein the input unit 200 is configured to read from the user Receive control commands related to the drive of the air conditioner 1 or data required to drive the air conditioner 1; the controller 300 is configured to control the drive of the air conditioner 1; the sensor 400 is configured to detect the temperature or humidity of the indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located; the storage unit 500 is configured to store programs and data related to the driving of the air conditioner 1 ; and the first to third outlets 41 a to 41 c are configured to discharge heat-exchanged air to the outside of the air conditioner 1 .

The input unit 200 may include a button type switch, a membrane switch, or a touch panel for receiving an operation command of the air conditioner 1 . If a remote controller (not shown) for receiving operation and driving commands of the air conditioner 1 and displaying operation information of the air conditioner 1 is provided, the input unit 200 of the air conditioner 1 may only include a power button ( not shown).

The input unit 200 may be a mode that enables the user to set the operation mode (for example, wind speed/air volume mode, such as "strong", "normal", "weak" and "acceleration"; automatic/manual mode and function mode, such as cooling mode, dehumidification mode, etc. mode, blowing mode, heating mode, comfort mode, etc.), start or stop the drive, or set the components for the desired temperature, wind direction, etc. The input unit 200 may have a plurality of keys included in the front panel 10a of the air conditioner 1 or a remote controller to enable a user to input data. In addition, the input unit 200 may receive information related to indoor temperature and indoor humidity of a space where the air conditioner 1 is located from a user. In other words, the user may set a desired temperature of the indoor temperature of the space where the air conditioner 1 is located through the input unit 200, and may set a desired humidity of the indoor humidity of the space. If the indoor temperature or indoor humidity sensed by the air conditioner 1 changes, the user may set a new desired temperature or a new desired humidity through the input unit 200 . In addition, the input unit 200 may receive data (eg, operation cycle, operation type, operation time, etc.) related to cooling operations performed through the first to third outlets 41 a to 41 c and cooling operations performed through the outlet hole 50 .

The controller 300 may be electrically connected to the input unit 200 , the sensor 400 and the storage unit 500 to transmit and receive commands and data related to the overall operation of the air conditioner 1 . An output terminal of the controller 300 may be electrically connected to the first outlet 41 a , the second outlet 41 b and the third outlet 41 c to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the air conditioner 1 . In other words, the controller 300 may control the first driving motor 33a, the second driving motor 33b, and the third driving motor 33c respectively included in the first outlet 41a, the second outlet 41b, and the third outlet 41c, thereby controlling the first blower fan 32a, the on/off operation and rotation speed of the second blower fan 32b and the third blower fan 32c. Corresponding to the mode of operation selected by the user, the controller 300 can transmit control commands to the first drive motor 33a, the second drive motor 33b and the third drive motor 33c to control the first blower fan 32a, the second blower fan 32b and On/off operation and rotation speed of the third blower fan 32c.

In addition, the controller 300 may control the first door operating member 66a, the second door operating member 66b, and the third door operating member 66c respectively included in the first outlet 41a, the second outlet 41b, and the third outlet 41c to control the The first, second and third door blades are configured to open or close the first, second and third outlets 41a, 41b and 41c.

The controller 300 may compare the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 of the sensor 400 with a desired temperature input and stored by the user, and compare the indoor humidity sensed by the humidity sensor 420 with the desired humidity input and stored by the user, thereby determining Whether to open or close the individual first to third outlets 41a to 41c.

In addition, the controller 300 may control the RPM of the blower fan 32 based on the current indoor temperature or humidity sensed by the sensor 400 . At this time, in addition to the current indoor temperature or humidity, the controller 300 may control the RPM of the blower fan 32 by reflecting information related to the wind speed mode or the air volume mode input by the user.

If the controller 300 determines that the currently sensed indoor temperature or humidity is equal to or less than the desired temperature or humidity input by the user, the controller 300 may reduce the RPM of the blower fan 32 to control the blower fan 32 at a low speed. As described above, when the controller 300 controls the RPM of the blower fan 32, the controller 300 may reflect the current wind speed mode or the current air volume mode in addition to the currently sensed indoor temperature or humidity. In this case, the reference of the RPM of the blower fan 32 may be a reference of the RPM of the blower fan 32 that matches the current wind speed pattern and the current indoor temperature and is stored. The controller 300 may extract the RPM of the blower fan 32 matching the currently sensed indoor temperature and the current wind speed pattern, and transmit a control signal to the driving motor 33 . For example, if the current wind speed mode is a breeze mode corresponding to the lowest RPM, the controller 300 may transmit a control signal for reducing the RPM of the blower fan 32 to a speed lower than the current RPM to the driving motor 33, To control the blower fan 32 at a low speed. Herein, the breeze mode means a wind speed mode corresponding to the lowest RPM of the blower fan 32 among user-settable wind speed modes. If the indoor temperature or indoor humidity sensed by the sensor 400 is equal to or lower than a desired temperature or humidity, the controller 300 may change the RPM of the blower fan 32 to a speed lower than the minimum RPM. The controller 300 may include a single general-purpose processor to perform all calculations related to the operation of the air conditioner 1; or may include a processor for performing special calculations, such as a communication processor for performing only communication-related calculations and a For control processors that only perform calculations related to control operations.

The sensor 400 may include a temperature sensor 410 to sense the indoor temperature of the space where the air conditioner 1 is located, and a humidity sensor 420 to sense the indoor humidity of the space.

The temperature sensor 410 may sense the temperature of an indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located, and output an electrical signal corresponding to the sensed temperature. In addition, the temperature sensor 410 may further include an intake temperature sensor to sense the temperature of indoor air drawn into the interior of the air conditioner 1 or a discharge temperature sensor to sense the temperature of air discharged from the air conditioner 1, although not limited thereto. In other words, the temperature sensor 410 may be added to any position where the indoor temperature can be sensed. The temperature sensor 410 may include a thermistor whose resistance varies according to temperature.

The humidity sensor 420 may sense the humidity of an indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located, and output an electrical signal corresponding to the sensed humidity. The humidity sensor 420 may be added to any position of the air conditioner 1 that can sense indoor humidity.

The storage unit 500, as a component for storing various data related to the operation and control of the air conditioner 1, may store information about user-requested operation modes (for example, wind speed/volume modes such as "strong", "normal", "weak" and "Acceleration"; automatic/manual mode; and function modes such as cooling mode, dehumidification mode, blowing mode, heating mode, and comfort mode), various setting data for starting or stopping operation, desired temperature, wind direction, etc. Also the storage unit 500 may store information on one of a desired temperature and a desired humidity of an indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located, which is input by a user. The storage unit 500 may include nonvolatile memories (eg, magnetic disks and semiconductor disks) and volatile memories (eg, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static random access memory (SRAM)) (not shown), Among them, the nonvolatile memory is used to permanently store programs and data related to the operation of the air conditioner 1, and the volatile memory is used to temporarily store temporary data created when the air conditioner 1 operates.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for describing a cooling process in which heat-exchanged air is discharged through an outlet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 9A is a graph showing indoor temperature changes according to a control method of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 9B is a graph showing indoor temperature changes for each stage according to a control method of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for describing a cooling process in which heat-exchanged air is discharged through an outlet hole when an outlet is closed according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the air conditioner 1 and the control method thereof, the operation modes of the air conditioner 1 will be defined as a first mode and a second mode. In addition, for convenience of description, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with respect to indoor temperature. However, the cooling operation of the present disclosure may be performed based on indoor humidity. In addition, the embodiment to be described below can be based on the set value that the user can set and manually operate through the input unit 200 and that the user has preset for the operating environment of the air conditioner 1 under the control of the controller 300 , and stored in the The data in storage unit 500 is automatically executed.

In the first mode, the air conditioner 1 may perform cooling through at least one outlet 41 such that heat-exchanged air may be discharged to the outside of the air conditioner 1 through the opened first to third outlets 41a to 41c. At this time, the controller 300 may selectively open the first to third outlets 41a to 41c according to the indoor temperature sensed by the sensor 400 to perform the first mode cooling operation.

In the second mode, the air conditioner 1 may perform cooling through the outlet hole 50 . If the indoor temperature reaches a user's preset desired temperature, the first to third outlets 41a to 41c may be closed to discharge heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole 50, thereby maintaining the indoor space at a comfortable temperature through low speed operation.

Referring to FIG. 9A, the room temperature may vary as shown in the graph. If the desired indoor temperature or comfortable temperature set by the user is T ₂ and the current indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 is T ₁ , the air conditioner 1 may perform a first mode operation, wherein the first mode operation is to perform cooling In order to make the sensed current indoor temperature close to the expected indoor temperature. In other words, the first mode cooling operation may be performed by opening the outlet 41 to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside to lower the indoor temperature higher than a desired temperature.

When the first mode operation shown in FIG. 9A is performed, the controller 300 may control the first to third door operating elements 66a to 66c respectively included in the first to third outlets 41a to 41c to open the first to the third outlets 41 a to 41 c, or the controller 300 may control the first to third driving motors 33 a to 33 c to control the RPM of the blower fan 32 .

In the first mode operation, as shown in FIG. 8 , a cooling operation may be performed through the first to third outlets 41 a to 41 c, at which point a part of the heat-exchanged air may be discharged through the outlet hole 50 .

If the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 reaches a desired temperature T ₂ set by a user through the first mode cooling operation, the air conditioner 1 may perform the second mode cooling operation. If the first mode cooling operation continues to be performed even when the indoor temperature reaches the desired temperature _T2 set by the user, the user may feel cold. In this case, although the velocity of the air discharged through the first to third outlets 41a to 41c decreases, the velocity decrease may be limited so that the cooling wind may continue to reach the user in the first mode.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the controller 300 can close the outlet 41 of the air conditioner 1 through the door operating member 66 to perform the second mode cooling operation, and discharge the heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole 50, thereby maintaining the indoor temperature at or close to the desired temperature T ₂ . The controller 300 may control the driving motor 33 to control the speed of the blower fan 32, and adjust the wind speed of the air discharged through the discharge hole 50 to about 0.15/s so that the user can hardly feel the wind speed.

When the air is exhausted not through the outlet hole 50 but through the outlet 41 , it is difficult to achieve a low wind speed that cannot be felt by humans no matter how much the wind speed of the blower fan 32 is greatly reduced. However, since the outlet hole 50 is configured with a plurality of small holes to widen the area for air discharge, the velocity of the air discharged through the outlet hole 50 is significantly lower than that of the air discharged through the outlet 41, so that the user may Wind speed is barely felt.

If the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 exceeds the desired temperature T2 when performing the _second mode cooling operation kept at or close to the desired temperature _T2 , the controller 300 may control the driving motor 33 to increase the speed of the blower fan 32 and increase the speed of the blower fan 32. Large air volume. In addition, the controller 300 may open the first to third outlets 41a to 41c to perform the first mode cooling operation so that the current indoor temperature may reach the desired temperature T2 _again .

The first mode cooling operation or the second mode cooling operation as described above may be performed by a user's manual operation, and a wind speed or an air volume may be preset for each of the first mode cooling operation and the second mode cooling operation. In addition, when the user is sleeping, the controller 300 may make a setting to prevent the first mode cooling operation from being performed although the indoor temperature exceeds the desired temperature T ₂ .

Referring to FIG. 9B , when the first mode cooling operation is performed to lower the initially sensed indoor temperature T1 to _a desired temperature _T2 , the controller 300 may close the first to third outlets 41a to 41c to continue the cooling operation.

As shown in FIG. 9B , in order to lower the initially sensed indoor temperature T ₁ to the temperature T _A in the first stage, the controller 300 may open all the first to third outlets 41 a to 41 c to perform the first mode cooling operation. In other words, when the indoor temperature T _X sensed by the temperature sensor 410 in real time is within the range of T _A ≤ T _X ≤ T ₁ , it is necessary to quickly reduce the indoor temperature T _X , therefore, the controller 300 can turn on all the first to the second Three outlets 41a to 41c to perform the first mode cooling operation.

In order to lower the indoor temperature T _X sensed by the temperature sensor 410 from the temperature T _A to the temperature T _B in the second stage, the controller 300 may close one of the first to third outlets 41a to 41c to open the remaining two outlets. The outlet 41 performs the first mode cooling operation. The closed outlet 41 may be any one of the first to third outlets 41a to 41c. In other words, if the real-time indoor temperature T _X sensed by the temperature sensor 410 is within the range of T _B ≤ T _X ≤ T _A , a weaker cooling effect than the first stage may be required, so that the controller 300 can turn off the three one of the outlets 41 to use the remaining two outlets 41 to perform the first mode cooling operation.

In order to lower the indoor temperature _Tx sensed by the temperature sensor 410 from the temperature _TB to the temperature T2 in the third stage, the controller 300 may close _two of the first to third outlets 41a to 41c to open the remaining one The outlet 41 performs the first mode cooling operation. In other words, if the indoor temperature T _X sensed by the temperature sensor 410 in real time is within the range of T ₂ ≤ T _X ≤ T _B , a cooling effect that is weaker than that of the first stage and the second stage may be required, so that the controller 300 Two of the three outlets 41 may be closed to perform the first mode cooling operation using the remaining one outlet 41 .

In addition, as described above with reference to FIG. 9A, if the indoor temperature _Tx sensed by the temperature sensor 410 reaches the desired temperature _T2 , the controller 300 may close all of the first to third outlets 41a to 41c to pass through the outlet hole 50. The second mode cooling operation is performed at a low speed.

The above description with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10 relates to the method of controlling the air conditioner 1 based on the indoor temperature, however, as described above with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10 , the method of controlling the air conditioner 1 can be applied to the method of controlling the air conditioner 1 based on the indoor humidity implementation. In other words, the controller 300 may control the first to third outlets 41a to 41c such that the current indoor humidity sensed by the humidity sensor 420 shown in FIG. 7 reaches a desired humidity input by a user. If the current indoor humidity sensed by the humidity sensor 420 is higher than the desired humidity, the air conditioner 1 may open the outlet 41 to perform the first mode cooling operation, and if the current indoor humidity is equal to or lower than the desired humidity, the air conditioner 1 may close the outlet. 41 to perform the second mode cooling operation at a low speed through the outlet hole 50, thereby maintaining a comfortable indoor humidity desired by the user.

FIG. 11 illustrates an outlet aperture formed in a second region of the front panel in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

The outlet hole 50 shown in FIG. 1 is formed in the first area A1 of the front panel 10a where the opening 17 of the air conditioner 1 is located, however, the outlet hole 50 shown in FIG. 11 is formed outside the first area A1. In the second area A2 of the front panel 10a.

The first area A1 may correspond to an area of the front panel 10a where the outlet 41 is provided. If the outlet 41 is formed in the first area A1, the air discharged from the blower fan 32 may be discharged through the outlet hole 50 when the outlet 41 is closed. However, since the second area A2 is located below the area where the outlet 41 is provided, when the outlet 41 is closed, the air discharged from the blower fan 32 can move to the second area A2 corresponding to the lower portion of the front panel 10a, and then pass through the formed The outlet holes 50 in the second area A2 are discharged. Accordingly, a separate flow path may be provided to move the air discharged from the blower fan 32 to the second area A2 corresponding to the lower portion of the front panel 10a.

If the outlet hole 50 is formed in the first area A1, both the outlet 41 and the outlet hole 50 may be provided in the first area A1 so that when the air conditioner 1 performs the first-mode cooling operation, the air discharged from the blower fan 32 Air can be discharged through both the outlet 41 and the outlet hole 50 .

However, if the outlet hole 50 is formed in the second area A2, when the air conditioner 1 performs the first mode cooling operation, since the first to third outlets 41a to 41c are opened, most of the air discharged from the blower fan 32 does not will move to the exit hole 50 formed in the second area A2. In other words, when the air conditioner 1 performs the first mode cooling operation, most of the air discharged from the blower fan 32 can be discharged through the opened outlet 41, and when the air conditioner 1 performs the second mode cooling operation, because the first to third outlets 41a to 41c are closed, so the air discharged from the blower fan 32 may be discharged through the outlet hole 50 formed in the second area A2. As such, according to the first mode cooling operation and the second mode cooling operation, if the outlet hole 50 is formed in the second area A2, the air discharged from the blower fan 32 may pass through different components.

In addition, although not shown in the drawings, the outlet hole 50 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be formed in the side of the housing 10 instead of the front panel 10a. In addition, the outlet hole 50 may be formed at any position where the heat-exchanged air can be discharged when the outlet 41 is closed.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 12 , in operation 100 , the sensor 400 may sense at least one of indoor temperature and indoor humidity. More specifically, the temperature sensor 410 may sense the indoor temperature of the indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located, and the humidity sensor 420 may sense the indoor humidity of the indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located. The user can make a setting such that the air conditioner 1 senses only the indoor temperature, compares the indoor temperature with a desired temperature, and then performs the first mode cooling operation and the second mode cooling operation, or the user can make a setting such that the air conditioner 1 only senses Indoor humidity, comparing the indoor humidity with expected humidity and then performing the first mode cooling operation and the second mode cooling operation. In addition, the user may make a setting such that the air conditioner 1 senses both the indoor temperature and the indoor humidity, and performs the first mode cooling operation and the second mode cooling operation according to the indoor temperature and indoor humidity.

In operation 105, the controller 300 may determine whether at least one of the indoor temperature and the indoor humidity sensed by the sensor 400 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Herein, the predetermined value is a desired indoor temperature or desired indoor humidity set by a user. The controller 300 may compare the indoor temperature or indoor humidity sensed by the sensor 400 with a desired temperature or desired humidity stored in the storage unit 500 . If the controller 300 determines that the indoor temperature or indoor humidity is higher than a desired temperature or humidity, the controller 300 may perform a first mode cooling operation of discharging heat-exchanged air through the outlet 41 .

On the contrary, if the controller 300 determines that the indoor temperature or the indoor humidity is lower than the desired temperature or the desired humidity, it means that the current indoor temperature or the current indoor humidity reaches the desired temperature or the desired humidity set by the user, and therefore, the controller 300 may control The various components of the air conditioner 1 lower the RPM of the blower fan 32, close the outlet 41, and discharge the heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole 50, thereby performing the second mode cooling operation.

If the controller 300 determines that the indoor temperature or the indoor humidity is greater than the desired temperature or the desired humidity, the controller 300 may control the driving motor 33 to increase the RPM of the blower fan 32 in operation 110 to perform the first mode cooling operation, thus, the RPM may be increased by the second mode. The velocity of air discharged from at least one of the first to third outlets 41a to 41c and the outlet hole 50 .

The controller 130 may control the door operating member 66 to open the first to third outlets 41a to 41c in operation 115, and discharge the heat-exchanged air through the first to third outlets 41a to 41c in operation 120, thereby performing the first mode cooling operation. At this time, air may also be discharged through the outlet hole 50 together with the first to third outlets 41a to 41c.

As described above with reference to FIG. 9A , if the first mode cooling operation is performed, the indoor temperature may decrease, and the sensor 400 may sense at least one of the indoor temperature and the indoor humidity in operation 125 .

The controller 300 may compare the sensed indoor temperature or the sensed indoor humidity with a desired temperature or desired humidity previously set by a user and stored in the storage unit 500, and determine the sensed indoor temperature or the desired humidity in operation 130. Whether the sensed indoor humidity is lower than expected temperature or expected humidity.

If the controller 300 determines that the sensed indoor temperature or the sensed indoor humidity is greater than the expected temperature or the expected humidity, it means that the indoor temperature or the indoor humidity has not reached the expected temperature or the expected humidity, and therefore, the controller 300 may continue to execute the first step. One mode cooling operation. As described above with reference to FIG. 9B, if at least one of the first to third outlets 41a to 41c is closed during the first mode cooling operation, the controller 300 may open the closed outlet 41 again, and increase the blower fan 32. The RPM thus performs a first mode cooling operation.

If the controller 300 determines that the sensed indoor temperature or the sensed indoor humidity is equal to or less than the desired temperature or desired humidity, this means that the indoor temperature or indoor humidity has reached the desired temperature or desired humidity set by the user. Accordingly, the controller 300 may control various components of the air conditioner 1 to lower the RPM of the blower fan 32, close the outlet 41, and discharge the heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole 50, thereby performing the second mode cooling operation.

In other words, in operation 135, the controller 300 may control the driving motor 33 to reduce the RPM of the blower fan 32, and thus, the speed of the air discharged through at least one of the first to third outlets 41a to 41c and through the outlet hole 50 may be reduced. .

The controller 300 may control the door operating member 66 to close the first to third outlets 41 a to 41 c in operation 140 and discharge heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole 50 at a low speed in operation 145 , thereby performing the second mode cooling operation. Therefore, in the cooling operation of the second mode, since the air is discharged at a low speed through the plurality of outlet holes 50 due to the low RPM of the blower fan 32, the user does not feel that a comfortable temperature or a comfortable humidity is maintained in the indoor space. Exhaust wind from air conditioner 1.

If the indoor temperature or the indoor humidity increases when the second mode cooling operation is performed, the sensor 400 may sense at least one of the indoor temperature and the indoor humidity in operation 150 .

Then, in operation 155, the controller 300 may compare the indoor temperature or indoor humidity sensed by the sensor 400 with the desired temperature or desired humidity previously set by the user and stored in the storage unit 500, and determine the sensed indoor temperature or humidity. Whether the temperature or indoor humidity is equal to or lower than the expected temperature or expected humidity.

If the controller 300 determines that the sensed indoor temperature or the sensed indoor humidity is higher than a desired temperature or desired humidity, operations 115 to 155 are repeated. On the contrary, if the controller 300 determines that the sensed indoor temperature or the sensed indoor humidity is equal to or less than the desired temperature or the desired humidity, the controller 300 may continue to perform the second mode cooling operation.

As described above, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure as described above, the air conditioner 1 and its control method may maintain a desired temperature or humidity preset by a user based on the indoor temperature or indoor humidity sensed by the sensor 400 in real time.

In other words, when it is necessary to reduce the indoor temperature or indoor humidity, the controller 300 may open the outlet 41 to perform the cooling operation in the first mode. At this time, the controller 300 may control the RPM of the blower fan 32 to increase the speed of the discharged air.

On the contrary, if the indoor temperature or indoor humidity reaches a desired temperature or desired humidity, the controller 300 may close the outlet 41 to perform the second mode cooling operation through the outlet hole 50 . At this time, the controller 300 may reduce the RPM of the blower fan 32 to discharge air at a low speed through the outlet hole 50, thereby preventing the air discharged from the air conditioner 1 from directly reaching the user while maintaining the indoor space at a comfortable temperature or comfortable humidity.

The operation and control method of the air conditioner 1 are not limited to the above embodiments, and more various embodiments are possible by slightly changing the design of the air conditioner 1 . In addition, the operation and control method of the air conditioner 1 may be automatically performed under the control of the controller 300, or manually performed according to user's setting and control.

13 is a control block diagram of a configuration for condensation prevention control included in an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 13 , an air conditioner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include: an input unit 200, a controller 300, a temperature sensor 410, a storage unit 500, a communication unit 600, first to third driving motors 33a to 33c, and a first To the third blower fans 32a to 32c, wherein the input unit 200 is configured to receive a control command for the condensation prevention of the air conditioner 1 from the user; the controller 300 is configured to control the various components of the air conditioner 1 for the condensation prevention control of the air conditioner 1; the temperature The sensor 410 is configured to sense at least one of the indoor temperature of the indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located and the temperature of the front panel 10a of the air conditioner 1; the storage unit 500 is configured to store programs and data for condensation prevention of the air conditioner 1; the communication unit 600 Configured to transmit data related to the operation of the air conditioner 1 to/receive data related to the operation of the air conditioner 1 from the external server; the first to third drive motors 33a to 33c are configured to transmit the and control the RPM of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c; and the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c are configured to discharge the heat exchanged air through the outlet hole 50 to prevent Condensation occurs in the front panel 10a of the

The input unit 200 may include a button type switch, a membrane switch, or a touch panel for receiving an operation command of condensation prevention control of the air conditioner 1 . If a remote controller (not shown) for receiving operation and driving commands of the air conditioner 1 and displaying operation information of the air conditioner 1 is provided, the input unit 200 of the air conditioner 1 may only include a power button ( not shown).

When the outlet 41 of the air conditioner 1 is closed and at least one blower fan 32 is stopped, the input unit 200 may receive a control command for operating the blower fan 32 from a user to prevent condensation from occurring in the front panel 10a of the air conditioner 1 .

In other words, the user can preset the time period during which at least one blower fan 32 stops until it rotates again through the input unit 200 , and can also preset the rotation period during which the blower fan 32 rotates before stopping again through the input unit 200 .

In addition, the user can input information about the dew point temperature and the temperature of the front panel 10a at which the blower fan 32 starts to operate, and the user himself/herself can input a control command for rotating the blower fan 32 to prevent air conditioning. 1 Condensation occurs. The dew point temperature will be described later with reference to FIG. 14 .

The configuration and functions of the input unit 200 have been described with reference to FIG. 7, and thus further description thereof will be omitted.

The temperature sensor 410 may sense at least one of an indoor temperature of an indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located and a temperature of the front panel 10a of the air conditioner 1, and output an electric signal corresponding to the sensed temperature.

The temperature sensor 410 may also include an intake temperature sensor to sense the temperature of indoor air drawn into the interior of the air conditioner 1 , or a discharge temperature sensor to sense the temperature of air discharged from the air conditioner 1 . In addition, the temperature sensor 410 may sense the temperature of the air around the front panel 10a of the air conditioner 1, and may also sense the temperature of the front panel 10a. The temperature sensor 410 may be added at any position where the indoor temperature and the temperature of the front panel 10a can be sensed. The temperature sensor 410 may include a thermistor whose resistance varies according to temperature.

The temperature sensor 410 may sense the indoor temperature of the indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located and the temperature of the front panel 10 a of the air conditioner 1 and transmit an electric signal to the controller 300 .

The storage unit 500, as a component for storing various data related to the operation and control of the air conditioner 1, may store various setting data related to user-requested operation mode, start operation or stop operation, desired temperature, wind direction, and the like.

In addition, the storage unit 500 may store various data received from a user for condensation prevention of the air conditioner 1 . The data may include information on a period of time it takes until at least one blower fan 32 is stopped until it rotates again, and information on the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 and the temperature of the front panel 10a. The storage unit 500 may store the RPM required to rotate the blower fan 32 of the air conditioner 1 to prevent condensation.

The storage unit 500 may include a disk, a non-volatile memory and a volatile memory, wherein the disk permanently stores programs and data related to the control operation of the air conditioner 1, the non-volatile memory is such as a semiconductor disk, and the volatile memory A memory (for example, D-RAM and S-RAM) (not shown) temporarily stores temporary data created when the air conditioner 1 operates.

The communication unit 600 may transmit/receive various data related to the operation and control of the air conditioner 1 to/from the external server through the network. In other words, although the user himself/herself does not input the operation command and control command of the air conditioner 1 through the input unit 200, the communication unit 600 may receive information on the operation command and control command of the air conditioner 1 from the external server.

In addition, the communication unit 600 may receive data that may be input by a user to prevent condensation of the air conditioner 1 from an external server, and may receive periodically updated data from the external server so that the periodically updated data may be applied to the control of the air conditioner 1 .

In addition, various data that can be stored in the storage unit 500 can be stored in an external server through the communication unit 600 .

The controller 300 may be electrically connected to the input unit 200 , the temperature sensor 410 , the storage unit 500 and the communication unit 600 to transmit/receive commands and data related to an overall control operation for preventing condensation of the air conditioner 1 .

More specifically, the controller 300 may rotate at least one blower fan 32 to prevent condensation after the outlet 41 is closed, so that heat-exchanged air may be discharged through the outlet hole 50 according to the rotation of the blower fan 32 .

In other words, as shown in FIG. 13, the controller 300 may control the first to third driving motors 33a to 33c to rotate the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c.

If a predetermined period of time input by the user through the input unit 200 elapses after the outlet 41 is closed and the blower fan 32 stops rotating, the controller 300 may rotate the blower fan 32 at a predetermined RPM. In addition, the controller 300 may rotate the blower fan 32 if the temperature of the front panel 10a is equal to or less than a dew point temperature based on the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 and the temperature of the front panel 10a.

At this time, the period of time spent after the outlet 41 is closed and the blower fan 32 stops rotating until the blower fan 32 rotates again can be set in advance, and then stored in the storage unit 500, and about the blower fan 32 before stopping again. The data of the rotational cycle of the rotation and the RPM of the blower fan 32 may also be preset and stored in the storage unit 500 . In addition, the controller 300 may determine the time when the blower fan 32 starts to operate based on the data on the dew point temperature based on the indoor temperature and the temperature of the front panel 10a and store it in the storage unit 500; The blower fan 32 is operated as a result of determining whether the temperature of the front panel 10 a sensed by the temperature sensor 410 is equal to or lower than the dew point temperature.

The first to third driving motors 33a to 33c may transmit power to rotate the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c and adjust the RPM of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c under the control of the controller 300 .

Fig. 14 is a side view of the air conditioner for describing occurrence of condensation on the front panel of the air conditioner.

As described above, referring to FIG. 14 , the front panel 10a may be provided in the housing 10 of the air conditioner 1, and the area where the front panel 10a and the outlet 41 are provided is defined as a first area A1.

As mentioned above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12 , according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cooling mode of the air conditioner 1 can be divided into a first mode and a second mode, wherein the first mode is to open at least one outlet 41 and discharge air through the outlet 41 . The heat-exchanged air, and the second mode is to close at least one outlet 41 and discharge the heat-exchanged air through the outlet holes 50 formed in the discharge pan 14 .

In the first mode, condensation is unlikely to occur in the front panel 10a including the drain pan 14 because the outlet 41 is open to perform refrigeration, and in the second mode, if the blower fan 32 rotates at a low RPM to pass through the outlet If the holes 50 vent the air, condensation is unlikely to occur in the front panel 10a.

On the other hand, in the second mode in which the outlet 41 is closed, if the blower fan 32 is stopped, condensation may occur in the front panel 10a because the amount of air discharged through the outlet hole 50 is small.

Condensation refers to a phenomenon in which water vapor in the air condenses into water to form dew when air containing water vapor is cooled below the dew point temperature. Condensation can be classified as surface condensation and internal condensation. In other words, condensation refers to a phenomenon in which water vapor in the air contacting the surface of an object condenses into water to form dew when the internal temperature of an object falls below the dew point temperature. Herein, the dew point temperature refers to the temperature at which water vapor in the air condenses into water to form dew.

As shown in FIG. 14, the first area A1 of the front panel 10a can be divided into three areas A1', A1" and A1"', and the first area A1 is divided into three areas A1', A1" and A1". ' may be the positions of the first to third outlets 41a to 41c.

Figure 14 relates to the second mode with the outlet 41 closed, and shows an embodiment where the blower fan 32 is stopped in the second mode.

A case where condensation occurs in the front panel 10a will be described as an example as follows. When the indoor temperature of the indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located is in the range of 27°C to 30°C, the temperature of the air around the front panel 10a of the air conditioner 1 may also be in the range of 27°C to 30°C.

When the blower fan 32 is stopped after the air conditioner 1 performs the cooling operation in the first mode or the cooling operation in the second mode, heat-exchanged cool air may exist inside the casing 11 (also referred to as the upper casing), that is, in the front The inside of the front panel 10a is closed so that the front panel 10a can be kept at a temperature corresponding to the temperature of the heat-exchanged cool air lower than the temperature of the indoor space. Therefore, if the temperature of the heat-exchanged cool air is 15, the temperature of the front panel 10a can also be kept at 15.

If the temperature of the front panel 10a is 15 and the temperature of the air around the front panel 10a is in the range of 27 to 30, the dew point temperature at which condensation occurs on the surface of the front panel 10a can be determined to be about 23.

If the room air in the range of 27 to 30 contacts the front panel 10a kept at 15, condensation may occur on the surface of the front panel 10a because the temperature of the front panel 10a is lower than the dew point temperature 23.

The condensation may form dew on the drain pan 14 included in the front panel 10a, which may cause malfunctions in terms of the structure of the air conditioner 1 .

As shown in FIG. 14, in the respective areas A1', A1" and A1"' included in the first area A1 of the front panel 10a, respective condensations d1, d2 and d3 may occur. In other words, when the first outlet 41a is closed and the first blower fan 32a is stopped, condensation d1 may occur in the area A1' of the front panel 10a, and when the second outlet 41b is closed and the second blower fan 32b is stopped, condensation d1 may occur in the front panel 10a. Condensation d2 may occur in area A1" of the panel 10a, and condensation d3 may occur in area A1"' of the front panel 10a when the third outlet 41c is closed and the third blower fan 32c is stopped.

In the first area A1 of the front panel 10a, condensation may occur on the area A1', A1" or A1"' depending on which of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c operates. In other words, the condensations d1, d2, and d3 occurring in the front panel 10a may be due to cooling of the front panel 10a due to the heat-exchanged cool air remaining in the casing 10 not being discharged to the outside, so that the heat-exchanged The temperature of the cool air is correspondingly cooled by the front panel 10a contacting the room air.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram for describing an operation of an air conditioner for preventing condensation on a front panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG.

In order to prevent condensation as described above with reference to FIG. 14, it may be necessary to lower the dew point temperature at which condensation occurs in the front panel 10a of the air conditioner 1 so that the temperature of the front panel 10a is equal to or higher than the dew point temperature.

To lower the dew point temperature, the controller 300 may rotate the blower fan 32 as shown in FIG. 15 . If the blower fan 32 rotates, the heat-exchanged air may be discharged to the outside of the air conditioner 1 through the outlet hole 50 formed in the front panel 10a. If the heat-exchanged air is discharged to the outside as shown in FIG. 15, the indoor air at 27°C to 30°C around the front panel 10a can be replaced by the heat-exchanged and discharged air at 15°C.

Therefore, unlike the embodiment of FIG. 14 , the temperature of room air around the front panel 10a may become about 15°C, and the temperature of the surface of the front panel 10a may be 15°C like the embodiment of FIG. 14 . Therefore, the dew point temperature at which condensation occurs can be determined to be about 11°C. If the dew point temperature is lowered to about 11° C., condensation cannot occur because the temperature of the front panel 10 a is 15 ie higher than the dew point temperature.

In other words, if the blower fan 32 rotates to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside through the outlet hole 50, edge regions a1, a2, and a3 may be formed between the discharged air and the existing indoor air as shown in FIG. , and the dew point temperature may be lowered due to the formed edge regions a1, a2, and a3 so that condensation does not occur in the front panel 10a.

If the blower fan 32 is rotated, the heat-exchanged air may be discharged to the outside to prevent condensation. However, if the blower fan 32 stops again, outside air at 27°C to 30°C may move to the front panel 10a again, so that the dew point temperature may rise again, which may cause condensation to occur on the front panel 10a.

Accordingly, the controller 300 may control the blower fan 32 to continuously discharge the heat-exchanged air or to periodically discharge the heat-exchanged air, thereby preventing condensation from occurring on the front panel 10a.

As described above with reference to FIG. 14, the first area A1 of the front panel 10a can be divided into three areas A1', A1" and A1"' corresponding to the positions of the first to third outlets 41a to 41c, and according to the positions included in Which of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c among the first to third outlets 41a to 41c rotates may cause condensation on the area A1', A1" or A1"' of the front panel 10a.

In other words, when the first blower fan 32a stops and the second blower fans 32b and 32c rotate, since the dew point temperature does not decrease in the area A1' of the front panel 10a, condensation may occur on the area A1' of the front panel 10a .

In addition, when the second blower fan 32b is stopped and the first and third blower fans 32a and 32c are rotated, condensation may occur in the area of the front panel 10a because the dew point temperature does not decrease in the area A1" of the front panel 10a on A1".

Likewise, when the third blower fan 32c stops and the first blower fan 32a and the second blower fan 32b rotate, since the dew point temperature does not decrease in the area A1"' of the front panel 10a, condensation may occur on the front panel 10a on area A1"'.

As described above with reference to FIG. 13, since the controller 300 can control the first to third drive motors 33a to 33c to control the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c, when all the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c When stopped, the controller 300 may rotate all of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c, thereby preventing condensation. If any one of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c is stopped, the controller 300 may rotate the stopped blower fan to prevent condensation from occurring on the corresponding area.

If at least one of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c is stopped, the controller 300 may rotate at least one of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c to prevent condensation. At this time, if a predetermined period of time elapses after the blower fan 32 stops, the controller 300 may rotate the blower fan 32 based on time information set by a user and stored in the storage unit 500 .

The controller 300 may rotate the blower fan 32 at a predetermined RPM, may continue to rotate the blower fan 32 at a constant RPM after rotating the blower fan 32, or may rotate the blower fan 32 periodically so that the blower fan 32 elapses for a predetermined period of time The blower fan 32 is then stopped and then rotated again.

At this time, the user may set a period period after the blower fan 32 is stopped until it rotates again, or may set a rotation period in which the blower fan 32 rotates. The period period and the rotation period may be based on time information or period period calculated considering the time until condensation occurs in the front panel 10 a after the blower fan 32 is stopped.

Time information related to the control operation for rotating the blower fan 32 to prevent condensation may be stored in the storage unit 500 , or may be received from an external server through the communication unit 600 and then transmitted to the controller 300 .

The controller 300 may calculate a dew point temperature based on the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 and the temperature of the front panel 10a, and determine whether the temperature of the front panel 10a is lower than the dew point temperature, thereby controlling the rotation of the blower fan 32.

In other words, the temperature sensor 410 may sense the temperature of the front panel 10 a and the indoor temperature around the front panel 10 a and transmit an electric signal to the controller 300 . The controller 300 may decide on which of the three areas A1', A1" and A1"' of the front panel 10a condensation occurs because the temperature of the area is equal to or less than the dew point temperature based on the received signal. The controller 300 may rotate the blower fan 32 corresponding to the determined area to discharge the heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole 50, thereby preventing condensation from occurring on the corresponding area.

The controller 300 may rotate all of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c, or may rotate at least one of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c.

Likewise, time information, rotation cycle information, and RPM information related to control operations for rotating the blower fan 32 to prevent condensation may be stored in the storage unit 500, or may be received from an external server through the communication unit 600 and then transmitted to the control unit. device 300.

16A and 16B are flowcharts illustrating a method of controlling an air conditioner to prevent condensation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 16A , the air conditioner 1 may close at least one outlet 41 among the first to third outlets 41 a to 41 c in operation 200 according to whether the first mode cooling operation is completed.

If at least one outlet 41 is closed, the air conditioner 1 may perform a second mode cooling operation, and the controller 300 may stop rotating at least one blower fan 32 in operation 205 according to whether the second mode cooling operation is completed.

In operation 210, the controller 300 may determine whether a predetermined period of time elapses after at least one blower fan 32 stops rotating. Herein, the information on the predetermined time period may be preset by a user and stored in the storage unit 500 .

If the controller 300 determines in operation 215 that the predetermined period of time has elapsed, then in operation 220, the controller 300 may determine whether to continue to rotate at least one blower fan 32 at a low RPM, or to repeatedly rotate and stop at least one blower fan 32 at predetermined time intervals. Blower fan 32. If the controller 300 determines to continue rotating the at least one blower fan 32 , the controller 300 may control the at least one blower fan 32 to rotate at a low RPM in operation 230 . If the controller 300 determines to repeatedly rotate and stop the at least one blower fan 32 at predetermined time intervals, the controller 300 may control the at least one blower fan 32 to rotate at predetermined time intervals in operation 225 . Information on predetermined time intervals may be preset by a user and stored in the storage unit 500 .

In operation 235 , if at least one blower fan 32 is rotated, air may be discharged to the outside through the outlet hole 50 . Then, as described above, the dew point temperature may be lowered, thereby preventing condensation from occurring in the front panel 10a. The controller 300 may respectively control the at least one blower fan 32 to prevent condensation from occurring in the front panel 10 a corresponding to the position of the rotating blower fan 32 among the at least one blower fan 32 .

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 16B , in operation 300 , the air conditioner 1 may close at least one outlet 41 among the first to third outlets 41 a to 41 c according to whether the first mode cooling operation is completed.

If at least one outlet 41 is closed, the air conditioner 1 may perform a second mode cooling operation, and the controller 300 may stop rotating at least one blower fan 32 according to whether the second mode cooling operation is completed in operation 305 .

In operation 310 , the temperature sensor 410 may sense the indoor temperature of the space where the air conditioner 1 is located and the temperature of the front panel 10 a, and transmit an electric signal to the controller 300 .

In operation 315 , the controller 300 may determine a dew point temperature at which condensation occurs based on the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 . In addition, in operation 320, the controller 300 may determine whether the temperature of the front panel 10a is equal to or less than a dew point temperature. Data on the dew point temperature determined from the sensed indoor temperature may be pre-stored in the storage unit 500 .

If the temperature of the front panel 10a is equal to or less than the dew point temperature, condensation may occur in the front panel 10a, and thus the controller 300 may rotate at least one blower fan 32 . The dew point temperature and the reason why condensation occurs on the front panel 10 a have already been described with reference to FIG. 14 , and thus further description thereof will be omitted.

In operation 325 , the controller 300 may determine whether to continue rotating the at least one blower fan 32 at a low RPM or whether to repeatedly rotate and stop the at least one blower fan 32 at predetermined time intervals. If the controller 300 determines to continue rotating the at least one blower fan 32 at a low RPM, the controller 300 may control the at least one blower fan 32 to rotate at a low RPM in operation 335 . If the controller 300 determines to repeatedly rotate and stop the at least one blower fan 32 at predetermined time intervals, the controller 300 may control the at least one blower fan 32 to rotate at predetermined time intervals in operation 330 . The predetermined time interval may be preset by a user and stored in the storage unit 500 .

If at least one blower fan 32 is rotated, air may be discharged to the outside through the outlet hole 50 in operation 340 . Then, as described above, the dew point temperature may be lowered, thereby preventing condensation from occurring in the front panel 10a. The controller 300 may respectively control the at least one blower fan 32 to prevent condensation from occurring in the front panel 10 a corresponding to the position of the rotating blower fan 32 among the at least one blower fan 32 .

17 is a control block diagram of a configuration of an air conditioner that discharges heat-exchanged air through a second outlet provided at a lower case.

Referring to FIG. 17 , according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the air conditioner 1 may include at least one lower blower fan 32d and a fourth driving motor 33d, wherein the lower blower fan 32d is configured to move heat-exchanged air from the upper case 11 to the lower case. Body 12, the fourth drive motor 33d is configured to transmit power for rotating the lower blower fan 32d and to control the RPM of the lower blower fan 32d.

The input unit 200 may include a button type switch, a membrane switch, or a touch panel for receiving an operation command to control the lower blower fan 32d of the air conditioner 1 . If a remote controller (not shown) for receiving operation and driving commands of the air conditioner 1 and displaying operation information of the air conditioner 1 is provided, the input unit 200 of the air conditioner 1 may only include a power button for supplying power to the air conditioner 1 (not shown).

The input unit 200 may receive a control command for rotating the lower blower fan 32d to move the heat-exchanged air from the upper casing 11 to the lower casing and pass the heat-exchanged air through the second The outlet hole 52 is discharged to the outside, wherein the second outlet hole 52 is formed in the second area A2 of the front panel 10a.

A user may input data on the time at which the lower blower fan 32d rotates, the rotation cycle of the lower blower fan 32d, and the RPM of the lower blower fan 32d through the input unit 200 . In addition, the user may set an indoor temperature or a time when the lower blower fan 32d starts to operate through the input unit 200 .

The configuration and functions of the input unit 200 have been described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 13 , and thus, further description thereof will be omitted.

The temperature sensor 410 may sense an indoor temperature of a space where the air conditioner 1 is located, and transmit an electrical signal corresponding to the sensed indoor temperature to the controller 300 . The controller 300 may adjust the rotation period and RPM of the lower blower fan 32d based on the received electrical signal. The configuration and function of the temperature sensor 41 have been described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 13 , and thus, further description thereof will be omitted.

The storage unit 500 may store data related to the control operation of the air conditioner 1 input by the user through the input unit 200 . In other words, the storage unit 500 may store data on the indoor temperature and the time at which the lower blower fan 32d starts to operate, and data on the time at which the lower blower fan 32d rotates, the rotation period at which the lower blower fan 32d rotates, and the RPM at which the lower blower fan 32d rotates. .

The communication unit 600 may transmit/receive data related to the operation and control of the air conditioner 1 to/from an external server through a network. In addition, the communication unit 600 may receive data on indoor temperature sensed by a sensor installed outside the air conditioner 1 from the server and transmit the data to the controller 300 .

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller 300 may be electrically connected to the input unit 200 , the temperature sensor 410 , the storage unit 500 and the communication unit 600 , and receive/transmit commands and data related to the control of the air conditioner 1 .

More specifically, if a control command of the lower blower fan 32d is received, the controller 300 may rotate the lower blower fan 32d based on the input control command. At this time, the controller 300 may change the lower blower fan 32d and the rotation period RPM based on the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 or a control command input by the user.

In other words, if the indoor temperature of the space where the air conditioner 1 is located is higher than the desired temperature preset and stored in the storage unit 500, the controller 300 may increase the RPM of the lower blower fan 32d, and if the indoor temperature of the space where the air conditioner 1 is located If the temperature is lower than desired, the controller 300 may reduce the RPM of the lower blower fan 32d.

The lower blower fan 32d may be electrically connected to the fourth driving motor 33d, and the fourth driving motor 33d may control the rotation of the lower blower fan 32d under the control of the controller 300 . The lower blower fan 32 d may rotate to move heat-exchanged air from the upper case 11 to the lower case 12 so that the moved air may be discharged to the outside through the second outlet hole 52 .

18 is an exploded perspective view of an air conditioner including a lower blower fan according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 19 is an illustration for describing that heat-exchanged air to be moved to a lower case is discharged through a second outlet hole according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Schematic diagram of operations to the outside.

18, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the air conditioner 1 may include an upper case 11, a lower case 12, first to fourth drive motors 33a to 33d, first to third blower fans 32a to 32c, and a lower blower fan 32d. , wherein the upper housing 11 includes a first area A1 of the front panel 10a, and the lower housing 12 includes a second area A2 of the front panel 10a.

In the first area A1 of the front panel 10a, there may be provided a first outlet hole 51 through which the heat-exchanged air is discharged to the outside when the outlet 41 is closed; and in the second area A2 of the front panel 10a , there may be provided a second outlet hole 52 through which the heat-exchanged air moved to the lower case 12 by the lower blower fan 32d is discharged to the outside.

In addition, a lower blower fan 32d may be provided between the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 . In FIG. 18, a single lower blower fan 32d is shown for convenience of description. However, the number of lower blower fans 32d is not limited as long as at least one lower blower fan 32d is provided.

In addition, the position where the lower blower fan 32 d is provided is not limited, and the lower blower fan 32 d may be provided at any position where heat-exchanged air can move from the upper case 11 to the lower case 12 .

As described above in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 12 , the cooling mode of the air conditioner 1 can be divided into a first mode and a second mode, wherein the first mode is that the heat-exchanged air is discharged through at least one outlet 41 , and the second mode is to perform cooling through the outlet hole 50 . More specifically, the second mode is to close the first to third outlets 41a to 41c and discharge heat-exchanged air through the outlet hole 50 when the indoor temperature reaches a desired temperature preset by the user, thereby continuing to maintain the indoor temperature. The space is at a comfortable temperature.

The user can use the input unit 200 to input the operation mode of the air conditioner 1 (for example, wind speed/air volume mode such as "strong", "normal", "weak" and "acceleration"; automatic/manual mode; or function mode such as cooling mode , dehumidification mode, blowing mode, heating mode, comfort mode, fast cooling mode and sleep mode), start or stop operation, set the desired temperature or set the wind direction.

If the user sets the operation mode of the air conditioner 1 to the fast cooling mode, at least one outlet 41 may be opened so that the first mode cooling operation may be performed. If the first mode cooling operation is performed through the fast cooling mode, the indoor temperature may reach a desired temperature set by a user in a short time.

A user may set the operation mode of the air conditioner 1 to a comfort mode or a sleep mode through the input unit 200 , or the user may input a control command for operating the lower blower fan 32 d through the input unit 200 .

If a control command of a comfort mode or a sleep mode is received, or if a command to operate the lower blower fan 32d is received, the controller 300 may control the fourth driving motor 33d to rotate the lower blower fan 32d.

As shown in FIG. 19 , if the lower blower fan 32 d rotates, heat-exchanged air may move from the upper case 11 to the lower case 12 , and the moved air may be discharged to the outside through the second outlet hole 52 .

As described above, according to the present disclosure embodiment, in the second mode cooling operation of the air conditioner 1 , the outlet 41 may be closed, and at least one of the first to third blower fans 32 a to 32 c may be rotated at a low speed to discharge through the outlet hole 50 . air, thereby maintaining the desired temperature preset by the user.

In other words, when the user selects the sleep mode, air may be discharged through the second outlet hole 52 so that a comfortable indoor temperature may be maintained when the user is fast asleep.

As described above, in the second mode of the air conditioner 1, the controller 300 may close the outlet 41 and rotate the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c to perform cooling operation at a low speed, or the controller 300 may rotate the lower blower fan 32d to The air is moved towards the lower housing 12 at a low velocity. Air moving toward the lower case 12 may be discharged at a low speed through the second outlet hole 52 to maintain a comfortable temperature in the lower area of the indoor space where the user sleeps.

The controller 300 may change the rotation period and the RPM of the lower blower fan 32d based on the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 or a control command input by a user. Also, instead of the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 , the controller 300 may change the rotation cycle and RPM of the lower blower fan 32 d based on data on the indoor temperature received from an external server through the communication unit 600 .

In other words, if the indoor temperature of the space where the air conditioner 1 is located is higher than the desired temperature preset and stored in the storage unit 500, the controller 300 may increase the RPM of the lower blower fan 32d, and if the indoor temperature of the space where the air conditioner 1 is located If the temperature is lower than the desired temperature preset and stored in the storage unit 500, the controller 300 may decrease the RPM of the lower blower fan 32d.

The controller 300 may control the lower blower fan 32d independently of the control of the first to third blower fans 32a to 32c.

In addition, the controller 300 may change the frequency of a compressor (not shown) to change the amount of refrigerant of the air conditioner 1 in addition to changing the rotation period or RPM of the lower blower fan 32d based on the indoor temperature.

20A and 20B are flowcharts illustrating a method of controlling an air conditioner to discharge heat-exchanged air through a second outlet provided in a lower case of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In operation 400, the input unit 200 may receive a control command for at least one lower blower fan 32d from a user. In other words, the user may input a control command to rotate the lower blower fan 32d through the input unit 200 to move the heat-exchanged air from the upper case 11 to the lower case 12, and pass through the second area A2 provided on the front panel 10a. The second outlet hole 52 in the middle discharges the air to the outside.

In operation 405, the controller 300 may control the fourth driving motor 33d to rotate the at least one lower blower fan 32d based on the received control command, so that the at least one lower blower fan 32d operates.

If the lower blower fan 32d rotates, the heat-exchanged air may move from the upper housing 11 to the lower housing 12 in operation 410, and the moved air may be discharged through the second outlet hole 52 to the lower housing 12 in operation 415. external. Therefore, for the lower region of the indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located, the second mode cooling operation may be performed so that the indoor space may be maintained at a comfortable temperature when the user is fast asleep.

Referring to FIG. 20B , in operation 401 , the controller 300 may receive a control command for operating at least one lower blower fan, and operate at least one lower blower fan in operation 406 . In operation 411, the temperature sensor 410 may sense the indoor temperature of the space where the air conditioner 1 is located, and in operation 416, the controller 300 may combine the indoor temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 410 with the preset and stored in the storage unit 500. The predetermined temperature is compared. Herein, the predetermined temperature preset and stored in the storage unit 500 may correspond to a user's desired indoor temperature. For example, for the lower area of the indoor space where the air conditioner 1 is located, the predetermined temperature may be a temperature at which the user can comfortably sleep.

If the controller 300 determines in operation 421 that the sensed indoor temperature is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, in operation 431 the controller 300 may increase the RPM of at least one lower blower fan 32d. In operation 426, if the controller 300 determines that the sensed indoor temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature, the controller 300 may decrease the RPM of at least one lower blower fan 32d. If the RPM of at least one lower blower fan 32d increases, the amount of air discharged through the second outlet hole 53 may increase so that the user may feel high-speed wind. On the contrary, if the RPM of the at least one lower blower fan 32d decreases, the amount of air discharged through the second outlet hole 53 may decrease so that the user may feel cold air at a low speed.

Details about the configuration and effect of the control method of the air conditioner 1 as shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B have already been described with reference to FIGS. 17 to 19 , and thus further description thereof will be omitted.

21 shows an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 22 shows the front side of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 21 , and FIG. 23 shows when the front panel of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 21 is separated. state, FIG. 24 is an exploded perspective view of a part of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 21, FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 21, and FIG. 26 is an enlarged view of the area "A" in FIG. picture.

As shown in FIGS. 21 to 26 , the indoor unit 100 of the air conditioner may include: a casing 110 , a plurality of blower fan units 120 , at least one heat exchanger 130 and a plurality of inlets 140 , wherein the casing 110 forms the interior of the indoor unit 100 . Appearance; a plurality of blower fan units 120 are disposed inside the housing 110; at least one heat exchanger 130 is disposed behind the plurality of blower fan units 120 inside the housing 110; and a plurality of inlets 140 are formed on the rear surface of the housing 110 middle.

The housing 110 may include a front panel 112 having a plurality of openings 112a to expose an outlet 121a-4 of each blower fan unit 120 in a forward direction, and a rear panel 114 connected to the front panel 114. The rear of the front panel 112 is attached. Each of the plurality of openings 112a may be in a circular shape, and at least two or more openings 112a may be arranged at predetermined intervals in an up-and-down direction of the front panel 112 . Although not shown in the drawings, in the front panel 112, in addition to the opening 112a corresponding to the outlet 121a-4, a plurality of fine openings smaller in size than the opening 112a may be formed. The fine opening may correspond to the outlet hole 50 mentioned in the above embodiment. The fine opening may be formed in the lower portion of the front panel 112 below the opening 112a corresponding to the outlets 121a-4, or in the entire area of the front panel 112. Referring to FIG. The small openings need not be the same size or shape.

The blower fan unit 120 may include a diffuser 121, a drive motor 122, a blower fan 123 and an air duct 124, wherein the diffuser 121 forms an outlet 121a-4, the drive motor 122 is coupled with the rear of the diffuser 121, and the blower fan 123 is rotatably is coupled with the driving motor 122; and the air duct 124 is coupled with the rear surface of the diffuser 121 and forms a flow path through which the air sucked in by the blower fan 123 is discharged through the outlet 121a-4.

The diffuser 121 may include a circular disk plate (circular disk plate) 121a-1, a circular shelf (grill) 121a-2 and an outlet 121a-4, wherein the circular shelf 121a-2 and the circular disk plate 121a-1 Circumferentially coupled, the outlet 121a-4 is formed between the disc plate 121a-1 and the shelf 121a-2 and has a ring shape. A diffuser 121 may be provided at the front of the blower fan 123 to discharge air flowing through the blower fan 123 in a forward direction of the front panel 112 through the outlet 112a. In addition, the disk plate 121a-1 may include a door member (not shown) for opening or closing a space between the disk plate 121a-1 and the shelf 121a-2 through which air is discharged. The gate element may extend from the disc plate 121a-1 in a radial direction.

As shown in the drawing, the disk-shaped plate 121a-1 may be disposed at the center of the circular shelf 121a-2. However, the position of the disc plate 121a-1 is not limited to the center of the circular shelf 121a-2. The diameter of the disc plate 121a-1 may be related to noise generated when air is discharged from the indoor unit 100 of the air conditioner, and may be in a range of about 225mm to 265mm. In addition, not shown in the drawings, the disk plate 121a-1 and the shelf 121a-2 may reciprocate in a direction in which air is discharged from the indoor unit 100. Referring to FIG.

The shelf 121a-2 may include a plurality of blade plates. By changing the number, shape or arrangement of the blade plates, the wind direction and volume of the air discharged through the outlet 121a-4 can be adjusted.

In addition, by adjusting the width of the space between the disc plate 121a-1 and the shelf 121a-2 via the gate member to increase or decrease the width of the outlet 121a-4 in the radial direction, the discharge through the outlet 121a-4 can be adjusted. and by adjusting the diameter of the disk plate 121a-1, the wind direction and volume of the air discharged through the outlet 121a-4 can be adjusted.

The driving motor 122 may be coupled with the rear surface of the disc plate 121 a - 1 such that the rotation shaft 122 a of the driving motor 122 is aligned toward the rear panel 114 to rotate the blower fan 123 .

The blower fan 123 may be disposed between the diffuser 121 and the heat exchanger 130 to introduce the heat-exchanged air into the heat exchanger 130, and discharge the air through the outlet 121a-4. The blower fan 123 may include a hub 123a coupled with the rotation shaft 122a of the driving motor 122 and a plurality of blades 123b coupled with the outer circumference of the hub 123a.

The diameter of the hub 123 a may gradually decrease in a direction in which the rotation shaft 122 a of the driving motor 122 extends, that is, in a direction toward the rear panel 114 . Therefore, the outer circumferential surface of the hub 123a may be inclined. An angle α formed between a tangent line L1 or L3 intersecting the inclined outer peripheral surface of the hub 123a and an imaginary line (imaginary line) Lc passing through the center of the rotation shaft 122a of the drive motor 122 may be approximately between 10° and 40°. , so that the sucked air can be diagonally discharged toward the outlet 121a-4 by the blower fan 123.

If the point where the tangent line L1 or L3 intersecting the inclined outer peripheral surface of the hub 123a intersects the imaginary line Lc is called P1, and the point where a straight line extending from the point P1 intersects the center of the disc-shaped plate 121a-1 is called P2 , a point where the tangent line L1 or L3 intersecting the inclined outer peripheral surface of the hub 123a intersects the disc plate 121a-1 or the extended area of the disc plate 121a-1 is referred to as P3, and the distance between the point P2 and the point P3 Called R, the radius of the disk-shaped plate 121a-1 may be in the range of -20% to +20% of R. According to a Coanda effect, air may flow along the surface of the disc plate 121a-1. Therefore, the generation of vortices can be suppressed due to the flow of air on the front surface of the outlet 121a-4. If the radius of the disc plate 121a-1 is in the range of -20% to +20% of R, the appearance of the indoor unit 100 can be improved, and it can also be improved by suppressing the generation of vortices on the front surface of the outlet 121a-4. The performance of the indoor unit 100 is improved.

At least three blades 123b may be arranged at equal intervals along the outer circumferential surface of the hub 123a. When rotating together with the hub 123a, the blades 123b may form a pressure gradient in the front-rear direction of the blower fan 123, thereby forming a constant flow of air.

The arc curve connecting the two edges of the blade 123b may be two arc curves having different radii of curvature. Edges of the first and second arcs may be located on the rear surfaces of the respective blades 123b instead of the centers of the blades 123b. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the delamination area where the air flow flowing along the surface of the blade 123b is delaminated, which is better than when the edges of the first circular arc and the second circular arc are located at the center of the blade 123b or at the front of the blade 123b. situation on the surface. Accordingly, due to such stratification, performance degradation of the indoor unit 100 may be prevented, resulting in noise reduction.

If the shortest distance between one end of the blade 123b and the heat exchanger 130 disposed after the blower fan unit 120 is 'd1', the shortest distance d1 may be between 20mm and 50mm. If the shortest distance d1 is shorter than 20 mm, the space between the blower fan 123 and the heat exchanger 130 may be narrowed to generate inlet flow resistance and increase driving noise. On the contrary, if the shortest distance d1 exceeds 50 mm, the space between the blower fan 123 and the heat exchanger 130 may become wide such that the heat-exchanged air through the heat exchanger 130 may not be smoothly sucked into the blower fan 123 .

Also, if the shortest distance between the heat exchanger 130 and the inlet 140 is 'd2', the shortest distance d2 may be between 40mm and 60mm.

The air duct 124 may be in a circular shape surrounding the blower fan 123 . The air duct 124 may include a flow path shaping pipe 124a and a fixed plate 124b, wherein the flow path shaping pipe 124a forms a flow path of air so that the air sucked by the blower fan 123 flows to the outlet 121a-4, fixed Disk 124b is connected to flow path shaping tube 124a after flow path shaping tube 124a and secures air duct 124 to housing 110 .

The sides of the flow path shaping tube 124a may be inclined so that the sucked air may be discharged diagonally toward the outlet 121a-4 by the blower fan 123 together with the hub 123a, where the tangent line L2 intersecting the side of the flow path shaping tube 124a is opposite. An angle to a line Lp parallel to an imaginary line passing through the rotation center of the blower fan 123 may be between 5° and 15°.

The diffuser 121 may be coupled with and fixed on the inlet of the flow path shaping pipe 124a, and the air duct 124 may be coupled with and fixed on the fixing frame 150 through the quadrangular fixing plate 124b.

The heat exchanger 130 may be disposed between the blower fan unit 120 and the inlet 140 and absorb heat from the air sucked through the inlet 140 or transfer heat to the air sucked through the inlet 140 . The heat exchanger 130 may include tubes 132 and headers 134 , wherein the headers 134 are coupled with upper and lower portions of the tubes 132 .

Inside the indoor unit 100, one or more heat exchangers 130 may be installed. In other words, a plurality of heat exchangers 130 corresponding to the number of the plurality of blower fan units 120 may be installed after each blower fan unit 120 . Alternatively, a single heat exchanger 130 having a size corresponding to a plurality of blower fan units 120 may be provided. In addition, the plurality of heat exchangers 130 may have different heat exchange performances. In other words, a heat exchanger 130 having a relatively small heat exchange performance among the plurality of heat exchangers 130 may be disposed after the corresponding blower fan unit 120, and the other one of the plurality of heat exchangers 130 having a relatively large heat exchange performance A heat exchanger 130 may be provided after corresponding two or more blower fan units 120 .

An inlet 140 may be formed in the rear panel 114 disposed behind the heat exchanger 130 to guide external air into the interior of the indoor unit 100 . The inlet 140 may be formed in at least one of an upper portion, a side portion, and a rear portion of the rear panel 114 .

Similar to heat exchanger 130 , one or more inlets 140 may be formed in rear panel 114 . In other words, a number of inlets 140 corresponding to the number of blower fan units 120 may be formed in the rear panel 114 . Alternatively, a single inlet 140 having a size corresponding to all of the plurality of blower fan units 120 may be formed in the rear panel 114 . Additionally, the plurality of inlets 140 may have different sizes. In other words, one of the plurality of inlets 140 may be disposed behind a corresponding blower fan unit 120 , and another of the plurality of inlets 140 may be disposed behind corresponding two or more blower fan units 120 .

As shown in FIG. 26, air drawn into the interior of the housing 110 through the inlet 140 may pass through the heat exchanger 130 to absorb or lose heat. The air heat-exchanged by the heat exchanger 130 may be sucked by the blower fan 123, and then discharged to the outside of the housing 110 through the air duct 124 and the outlet 121a-4. At this time, an angle of a direction of air sucked into the blower fan 123 with respect to a direction of air discharged through the outlet 121a-4 may be between about 15° and about 60°.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the indoor unit 100 may include a plurality of blower fan units 120 , a heat exchanger 130 and a plurality of inlets 140 . For convenience of description, as shown in FIG. 25 , a structure in which a plurality of blower fan units 120 and a plurality of inlets 140 are arranged in the axial direction of the indoor unit 100 will be described as an example.

The plurality of blower fan units 120 may include a first blower fan unit 120 a , a second blower fan unit 120 b , and a third blower fan unit 120 c arranged at regular intervals in an axial direction of the indoor unit 100 . The plurality of inlets 140 may include a first inlet 140a, a second inlet 140b, and a third inlet 140c arranged in an axial direction of the indoor unit 100 after the heat exchanger 130 at regular intervals.

In this way, since the plurality of blower fan units 120a, 120b, and 120c are respectively arranged in the axial direction of the indoor unit 100, the plurality of heat exchangers 130a, 130b, and 130c, and the plurality of inlets 140a, 140b, and 140c are arranged in the front-rear direction. are arranged in a line, so the indoor unit 100 can be slim, and the flow path between the inlet 140 and the outlet 121a-4 can be shortened, which improves driving efficiency of the indoor unit 100 while reducing noise.

The first blower fan unit 120a, the second blower fan unit 120b, and the third blower fan unit 120c may be controlled to be independently turned on/off or rotated at different speeds.

Hereinafter, a method of controlling the air conditioner having the above structure will be described in detail.

FIG. 27 is a control block diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 27 , an input unit 804 including a remote controller or a button provided in an air conditioner, a humidity sensor 805 for sensing indoor humidity, an indoor temperature sensor 808 for sensing indoor temperature, and an input unit for sensing The evaporator temperature sensor 810 of the temperature of the heat exchanger of the indoor unit can be electrically connected to the input side of the controller 802 which controls the overall operation of the air conditioner thereby communicating with each other; and the compressor 812, the electronic expansion valve 814, the first blower fan unit 120a, the second blower fan unit 120b and the third blower fan unit 120c may be electrically connected to the output side of the controller 802 thereby communicating with each other.

The controller 802 can transmit control commands to the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 according to the operation mode selected by the user through the input unit 804, and control the first blower fan unit 120a, the second blower fan unit 120a, and the second blower fan unit according to the selected operation mode. On/off and RPM of unit 120b and third blower fan unit 120c.

The input unit 804 may include buttons enabling a user to input a dehumidification command. If a dehumidification command is input through the input unit 804, the controller 802 may drive the compressor 812 to lower the temperature of the heat exchanger to a lower dew point temperature to perform dehumidification. The controller 802 may determine whether the temperature of the heat exchanger is equal to or less than the dew point temperature based on the temperature sensed by the evaporator temperature sensor 810 . Air containing moisture drawn through the inlet of the indoor unit may pass through a heat exchanger cooled to a dew point temperature or lower, so that the temperature of the air is lowered. If the temperature of the air becomes equal to or less than the dew point temperature, moisture in the air may be changed into water to be removed from the air, and the air not containing the moisture may be discharged to the indoor space through the blower fan 123 . Through the process, indoor humidity can be reduced. The air conditioner may operate the compressor 812 to circulate the refrigerant, and drive the blower fan 123 so that indoor humidity is included in a predetermined humidity range in which the user can feel comfortable.

Unlike traditional dehumidifiers, the dehumidification of air conditioners can be accompanied by refrigeration. If the user tries to perform only the dehumidification function without performing the cooling function, the dehumidification function accompanied by cooling may make the user uncomfortable. Therefore, according to the current embodiment, the air conditioner may provide a dehumidification function accompanied by a cooling function, wherein the cooling function is reduced to a predetermined level. This will be described in detail below.

If a dehumidification command is input through the input unit 804, the controller 802 may output control signals for controlling the operations of the compressor 812, the electronic expansion valve 814, and the blower fan 123 so that the indoor humidity sensed by the humidity sensor 805 and the The temperature sensed by the indoor temperature sensor 808 may reach a target humidity range (eg, a range of 40% to 70%) and a target temperature range (eg, a range of 22° C. to 26° C.). Alternatively, the controller 802 may output control signals for controlling the operations of the compressor 812, the electronic expansion valve 814, and the blower fan 123 so that the indoor humidity and the indoor temperature may reach a target humidity value or a target temperature value input by the user. .

According to the current embodiment, the air conditioner may provide various dehumidification modes. For example, the air conditioner can support the first dehumidification mode, the second dehumidification mode and the third dehumidification mode, wherein the first dehumidification mode enables the current indoor humidity to reach the target humidity range faster than the normal dehumidification mode; cooling effect while reducing power consumption, although it takes longer than the first dehumidification mode; and the third dehumidification mode consumes more power than the second dehumidification mode and consumes less power The first dehumidification mode takes longer and takes a shorter time than the second dehumidification mode. In order to perform such various dehumidification modes, the input unit 804 may include buttons corresponding to the respective dehumidification modes. In addition, according to the current embodiment, the air conditioner may include a fourth dehumidification mode automatically combined with the aforementioned dehumidification modes corresponding to changes in indoor temperature, indoor humidity, or power consumption, and the input unit 804 may include a button for operating the fourth dehumidification mode. However, the above-described dehumidification modes may be merely examples, and more various dehumidification modes may be created in consideration of time taken for dehumidification, power consumption, reduction in cooling effect, etc., may be included in the current embodiment.

The controller 802 may calculate the amount of circulating refrigerant according to the difference between the current indoor humidity and the target humidity range and the dehumidification mode input by the user, and output a control signal for controlling the compressor 812 according to the amount of circulating refrigerant . In addition, the controller 802 may output a control signal for controlling the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 according to the calculated amount of circulating refrigerant and the dehumidification mode.

For example, if the fourth dehumidification mode is selected through the input unit 804, the controller 802 may control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814, and drive all the first blower fan 123a, the second blower fan 123b, and the third blower fan 123c, So that the indoor humidity and indoor temperature can reach the target humidity range and target temperature range in a short time. In other words, if the fourth dehumidification mode is selected, the air conditioner may perform dehumidification according to the first dehumidification mode during the initial dehumidification period. At this time, the amount of circulating refrigerant may be controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value a1, the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 may be controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value b1, and the first blower fans 123a, 123b, and 123c may also be controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value a1. Controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value c1.

The humidity sensor 805 can sense changes in indoor humidity in real time, and the controller 802 can also determine whether the indoor humidity reaches a target humidity range based on the result sensed by the humidity sensor 805 . If the controller 802 determines that the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range, the controller 802 may stop driving the compressor 812 .

If the controller 802 determines that the indoor humidity is out of the target humidity range, the controller 802 may control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor temperature may reach the target humidity range again. In this case, the difference between the indoor humidity and the target humidity range is likely to be smaller than when dehumidification was initially performed. Therefore, when the indoor humidity deviates from the target humidity range, on the assumption that the difference between the indoor temperature and the target humidity range is not large, dehumidification may be performed with a higher priority than shortening the time taken for dehumidification. Save electricity. In other words, after the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range, the air conditioner may perform dehumidification according to the second dehumidification mode.

When dehumidifying according to the second dehumidification mode, the controller 802 may control the driving of the compressor 812 to cycle the amount a2 (a2=a1-q) obtained by subtracting the predetermined amount q from the refrigerant amount a1 of the first dehumidification mode (or more less) refrigerant. In order to compensate for the reduced amount of circulating refrigerant, the controller 802 may control the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 becomes the opening degree obtained by subtracting a predetermined value d from the opening degree b1 in the first dehumidification mode. b2 (b2=b1-d) (or less).

Until the command for ending the dehumidification is received, if the indoor humidity enters the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeatedly stop the operation of driving the compressor 812; and if the indoor humidity deviates from the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeatedly drive Compressor 812 Operation. Alternatively, until a command to end dehumidification is received, the controller 802 may continue to control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity does not deviate from the target humidity range.

Also, if the indoor temperature enters the target temperature range, the controller 802 may stop driving some of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c, and if the indoor temperature becomes equal to or less than the lower limit of the target temperature range, the controller 802 Only any one of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c may be driven, or all of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c may be stopped from being driven. For example, if the indoor temperature enters the target temperature range, the controller 802 may stop driving the third blower fan 123c among the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c, and control the third door element 121c-5 to close the third outlet. If the indoor temperature becomes equal to or lower than the lower limit of the target temperature range, the controller 802 may only drive the first blower fan 123a, and control the second door element 121b-5 and the third door element 121c-5 to close the second outlet and the second door element. Three exits. Or, as described above, the controller 802 may stop driving all of the first to third blower fans 123a, 123b, and 123c, and close all outlets.

In addition, when the second dehumidification mode is performed, as described above, the controller 802 may select the blower fan 123 to be driven according to the indoor temperature, and the RPM c2 ( c2=c1-r) (or less) to drive the selected blower fan 123 .

The RPM of the blower fan 123 may be determined by testing as an RPM at which the user hardly feels the cool air discharged by the air conditioner. In other words, since the indoor temperature and indoor humidity reach the target temperature range through dehumidification according to the first dehumidification mode, the air conditioner according to the present embodiment may reduce the RPM of the blower fan 123 to a predetermined level in the second dehumidification mode so that the user Cooling with the dehumidification function can hardly be felt. In this case, the controller 802 may control the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 of the blower fan units 120a, 120b, and 120c to close all the outlets so that the air can only pass through the openings formed in the front panel. The tiny openings are discharged. Although the volume or velocity of the exhaust air has been reduced because the RPM of the blower fan 123 has been reduced, the controller 802 may adjust the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 to close the outlets, thereby further reducing the user's perceived level of cold air.

According to an example, since the controller 802 gives higher priority to saving power than shortening the time taken for dehumidification, if the second dehumidification mode is selected through the input unit 804, the controller 802 may reduce the amount of circulating refrigerant instead of when as when running the first dehumidification mode. In other words, if the second dehumidification mode is selected, the controller 802 may control the driving of the compressor 812 to circulate the refrigerant amount a2 obtained by subtracting a predetermined amount q from the refrigerant amount a1 of the first dehumidification mode (a2=a1-q) (or less). In order to compensate for the reduced amount of circulating refrigerant, the controller 802 may control the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 becomes an opening degree obtained by subtracting a predetermined value d from the opening degree b1 in the first dehumidification mode. b2 (b2=b1-d) (or less).

The humidity sensor 805 may sense changes in indoor humidity in real time, and the controller 802 may determine whether the indoor humidity reaches a target humidity range based on the result sensed by the humidity sensor 805 . If the controller 802 determines that the indoor temperature reaches the target humidity range, the controller 802 may stop driving the compressor 812 .

If the controller 802 determines that the indoor humidity is out of the target humidity range, the controller 802 may control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor temperature may reach the target humidity range again. In this case, the air conditioner may also perform dehumidification according to the second dehumidification mode.

Until the command for ending the dehumidification is received, if the indoor humidity enters the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeatedly stop the operation of driving the compressor 812; and if the indoor humidity deviates from the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeatedly drive Compressor 812 Operation. Alternatively, until a command to end dehumidification is received, the controller 802 may continue to control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity does not deviate from the target humidity range.

In addition, if the second dehumidification mode is selected, the controller 802 may calculate RPM c2 (c2=c1-r) (or less) obtained by subtracting a predetermined value r from the RPM c1 of the blower fan 123 in the first dehumidification mode. ) to drive the blower fan 123.

The RPM of the blower fan 123 may be determined by testing as an RPM at which the user cannot feel the cool air discharged by the air conditioner. In other words, the air conditioner according to the current embodiment may lower the RPM of the blower fan 123 to a predetermined level in the second dehumidification mode so that the user cannot feel cooling accompanied by the dehumidification function. In this case, the controller 802 may control the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 of the blower fan units 120a, 120b, and 120c to close all the outlets so that the air can only pass through the openings formed in the front panel. The tiny openings are discharged. Although the volume or velocity of the exhaust air has decreased because the RPM of the blower fan 123 has been reduced, the controller 802 may adjust the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 to close the outlets, thereby further reducing the user-perceivable cold air level. According to an example, if the fourth dehumidification mode is selected through the input unit 804, the controller 802 may control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity may reach a target humidity range. In this case, the controller 802 may control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 as when dehumidification is performed according to the first dehumidification mode. At this time, the amount of circulating refrigerant may be controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value a1, and the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 may also be controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value b1.

However, the controller 802 may drive at least one blower fan among the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c at an RPM decreased to a predetermined level according to the second dehumidification mode instead of the first dehumidification mode. In other words, the controller 802 can drive the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c at an RPM c2 (c2=c1-r) (or less) obtained by subtracting a predetermined value r from the RPM c1 of the first dehumidification mode. At least one blower fan 123 in it.

According to the current embodiment, by driving the blower fan 123 at an RPM reduced from when the dehumidification function starts to be performed to a predetermined level at which the user may hardly feel the cooling accompanying dehumidification, the amount of air discharged from the air conditioner can be reduced. . Also, in this case, the controller 802 may control the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 of the blower fan units 120a, 120b, and 120c to close all outlets so that air can only pass through The tiny openings in the top panel are vented. Although the volume or velocity of the exhaust air has been reduced because the RPM of the blower fan 123 has been reduced, the controller 802 may adjust the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 to close the outlets, thereby further reducing the user's perceived level of cold air.

In addition, until the indoor temperature reaches the target temperature range, the controller 802 may drive all of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c at the RPM decreased to a predetermined level. If the indoor temperature enters the target temperature range, the controller 802 may stop driving some of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c, and if the indoor temperature becomes equal to or less than the lower limit of the target temperature range, the controller 802 may only Any one of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c is driven or all of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c are stopped. For example, if the indoor temperature enters the target temperature range, the controller 802 may stop driving the third blower fan 123c among the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c, and control the third door element 121c-5 to close the third outlet. If the indoor temperature becomes equal to or lower than the lower limit of the target temperature range, the controller 802 may only drive the first blower fan 123a, and control the second door element 121b-5 and the third door element 121c-5 to close the second outlet and the second door element. Three exits. Or, as described above, the controller 802 may stop driving all of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c, and close all of the outlets.

The humidity sensor 805 may sense changes in indoor humidity in real time, and the controller 802 may determine whether the indoor humidity reaches a target humidity range based on the result sensed by the humidity sensor 805 . If the controller 802 determines that the indoor temperature reaches the target humidity range, the controller 802 may stop driving the compressor 812 .

If the controller 802 determines that the indoor humidity is out of the target humidity range, the controller 802 can control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity can reach the target humidity range again. In this case, the difference between the indoor humidity and the target humidity range is likely to be smaller than when dehumidification was initially performed. Therefore, when the indoor humidity deviates from the target humidity range, on the assumption that the difference between the indoor temperature and the target humidity range is not large, it can be performed with a higher priority for power saving than shortening the time taken for dehumidification Dehumidification. In other words, after the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range, the air conditioner may perform dehumidification according to the second dehumidification mode.

When dehumidifying according to the second dehumidification mode, the controller 802 may control the driving of the compressor 812 to cycle through an amount a2 (a2=a1-q) obtained by subtracting a predetermined amount q from the refrigerant amount a1 of the first dehumidification mode (or more less) refrigerant. In order to compensate for the reduced amount of circulating refrigerant, the controller 802 may control the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 becomes an opening obtained by subtracting a predetermined value d from the opening degree b1 in the first dehumidification mode. Degree b2 (b2=b1-d) (or less). In addition, as described above, the controller 802 may select the blower fan 123 to be driven according to the indoor temperature, and at the RPM c2 obtained by subtracting the predetermined value r from the RPM c1 of the first dehumidification mode (c2=c1-r)( or smaller) to drive the selected blower fan 123.

To this end, if the indoor humidity enters the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeatedly stop the operation of driving the compressor 812; if the indoor humidity departs from the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeatedly drive Compressor 812 Operation. Alternatively, until a command to end dehumidification is received, the controller 802 may continue to control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity does not deviate from the target humidity range.

28 , 29 and 30 are flowcharts illustrating a method of controlling an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

27 and 28, in operation 500, if the dehumidification command is received through the input unit 804, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in operation 510, the controller 802 of the air conditioner may control the driving of the compressor 812 to make the cycle refrigeration The amount of agent is equal to or greater than a1, the electronic expansion valve 814 can be controlled so that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 is equal to or greater than b1, and the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c can be controlled so that the first to third blower fans The RPMs of 123a to 123c are equal to or greater than c1rpm.

According to the current embodiment, the dehumidification command input through the input unit 804 may be a command for setting the above-mentioned fourth dehumidification mode. If the dehumidification command is received, the controller 3802 may control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity and the indoor temperature can reach the target temperature range and the target humidity range in a short time, and drive all the first blower fans 123a , the second blower fan 123b and the third blower fan 123c. In other words, if the dehumidification command is received, the air conditioner may perform dehumidification according to the above-mentioned first dehumidification mode in the initial cycle of dehumidification. At this time, the amount of circulating refrigerant can be controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value a1, the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 can also be controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value b1, and the RPM of the blower fan 123 can also be controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value c1.

If the controller 802 determines in operation 520 that the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range, the controller 802 may stop driving the compressor 812 and the blower fan 123 in operation 530 . Thereafter, if the controller 802 determines in operation 540 that the indoor humidity is out of the target humidity range, in operation 550, the controller 802 may control the driving of the compressor 812 so that the amount of circulating refrigerant is equal to or less than a2, and may control the electronic The expansion valve 814 is such that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 is equal to or less than b2, and the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c may be controlled such that the RPM of at least one blower fan 123 is equal to or less than rpm c2.

The humidity sensor 805 can sense changes in indoor humidity in real time, and the controller 802 can also determine whether the indoor humidity reaches a target humidity range based on the result sensed by the humidity sensor 805 . If the controller 802 determines that the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range, the controller 802 may stop driving the compressor 812 and the blower fan 123 .

If the controller 802 determines that the indoor humidity is out of the target humidity range, the controller 802 can control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity can reach the target humidity range again. In this case, the difference between the indoor humidity and the target humidity range is likely to be smaller than when dehumidification was initially performed. Therefore, when the indoor humidity deviates from the target humidity range, on the assumption that the difference between the indoor temperature and the target humidity range is not large, dehumidification can be performed with a higher priority for power saving than the time it takes Dehumidification. In other words, after the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range, the air conditioner may perform dehumidification according to the second dehumidification mode.

When dehumidifying according to the second dehumidification mode, the controller 802 may control the driving of the compressor 812 to cycle through the refrigerant amount a2 (a2=a1-q) obtained by subtracting a predetermined amount q from the refrigerant amount a1 of the first dehumidification mode (or less). In order to compensate for the reduced circulating refrigerant amount, the controller 802 may control the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 becomes an opening degree b2 obtained by subtracting a predetermined value d from the opening degree b1 in the first dehumidification mode. (b2=b1-d) (or less).

Until the command for ending the dehumidification is received, for this reason, if the indoor humidity enters the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeat the operation of stopping the driving compressor 812; and if the indoor humidity departs from the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeat Operation of compressor 812 is driven. Alternatively, until a command to end dehumidification is received, the controller 802 may continue to control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity does not deviate from the target humidity range.

Also, if the indoor temperature enters the target temperature range, the controller 802 may stop driving some of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c, and if the indoor temperature becomes equal to or less than the lower limit of the target temperature range, the controller 802 Only any one of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c may be driven, or all of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c may be stopped from being driven. For example, if the indoor temperature enters the target temperature range, the controller 802 may stop driving the third blower fan 123c among the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c, and control the third door element 121b-5 to close the third outlet. If the indoor temperature becomes equal to or lower than the lower limit of the target temperature range, the controller 802 may only drive the first blower fan 123a, and control the second door element 121b-5 and the third door element 121c-5 to close the second outlet and the second door element. Three exits. Or, as described above, the controller 802 may stop driving all of the first blower fan 123a, the second blower fan 123b, and the third blower fan 123c, and close all outlets.

In addition, when the second dehumidification mode is performed, the controller 802 may select the blower fan 123 to be driven according to the indoor temperature, and at an RPM c2 obtained by subtracting a predetermined value r from the RPM c1 of the first dehumidification mode (c2= c1-r) (or less) to drive the selected blower fan 123.

The RPM of the blower fan 123 may be determined by testing as an RPM at which the user may hardly feel the cool air discharged by the air conditioner. In other words, since the indoor temperature and indoor humidity reach the target temperature range through dehumidification according to the first dehumidification mode, the air conditioner according to the present embodiment may reduce the RPM of the blower fan 123 to a predetermined level in the second dehumidification mode so that the user can The cooling that comes with the dehumidification function is hardly felt. In this case, the controller 802 may control the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 of the blower fan units 120a, 120b, and 120c to close all the outlets so that the air can only pass through the openings formed in the front panel. The tiny openings are discharged. Although the volume or velocity of the exhaust air has decreased because the RPM of the blower fan 123 has decreased, the controller 802 may adjust the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 to close the outlets, thereby further reducing the user-perceivable cold air level.

In operation 560, if a command to end dehumidification is received through the input unit 804, the controller 802 may end performing the dehumidification function.

As shown in FIGS. 27 and 29 , in operation 600, if a dehumidification command is received through the input unit 804, in operation 610, the controller 802 of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may control the driving of the compressor 812 so that The amount of circulating refrigerant is equal to or less than a2, the electronic expansion valve 814 can be controlled so that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 is equal to or less than b2, and the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c can be controlled so that at least one blower fan 123 The RPM is equal to or less than c2.

According to the current embodiment, the dehumidification command input through the input unit 804 may be a command for setting the second dehumidification mode described above. In the second dehumidification mode, because the controller 802 gives higher priority to saving power than reducing the time dehumidification takes, the controller 802 may reduce the amount of circulating refrigerant than when operating the first dehumidification mode. In other words, if the second dehumidification mode is selected, the controller 802 may control the driving of the compressor 812 to cycle through the refrigerant amount a2 obtained by subtracting a predetermined amount q from the refrigerant amount a1 of the first dehumidification mode (a2=a1-q) (or less). In order to compensate for the reduced circulating refrigerant amount, the controller 802 may control the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 becomes an opening degree b2 obtained by subtracting a predetermined value d from the opening degree b1 in the first dehumidification mode. (b2=b1-d) (or less). In addition, as described above, the controller 802 may drive the blower fan 123 at the RPM c2 (c2=c1-r) (or less) obtained by subtracting the predetermined value r from the RPM c1 of the blower fan 123 in the first dehumidification mode. . The RPM of the blower fan 123 may be determined through testing as an RPM at which the user can hardly feel the cool air discharged by the air conditioner. In other words, the air conditioner according to the current embodiment may lower the RPM of the blower fan 123 to a predetermined level in the second dehumidification mode so that a user may hardly feel cooling accompanied by the dehumidification function. In this case, the controller 802 may control the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 of the blower fan units 120a, 120b, and 120c to close all the outlets so that the air can only pass through the openings formed in the front panel. small opening discharge. Although the volume or velocity of the exhaust air has decreased because the RPM of the blower fan 123 has been reduced, the controller 802 may adjust the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 to close the outlets, thereby further reducing the user-perceivable cold air level.

In addition, if the controller 802 determines in operation 620 that the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range, the controller 802 may stop driving the compressor 812 and the blower fan 123 in operation 630 . Thereafter, if the controller 802 determines in operation 640 that the indoor humidity deviates from the target humidity range, the controller 802 may control the driving of the compressor 812 in operation 650 such that the circulating refrigerant amount is equal to or less than a2, and may control the electronic expansion valve 814 Such that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 is equal to or less than b2, and the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c may be controlled such that the RPM of at least one blower fan 123 is equal to or less than c2 rpm.

The humidity sensor 805 can sense changes in indoor humidity in real time, and the controller 802 can also determine whether the indoor humidity reaches a target humidity range based on the result sensed by the humidity sensor 805 . If the controller 802 determines that the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range, the controller 802 may stop driving the compressor 812 and the blower fan 123 .

As mentioned above, if the controller 802 determines that the indoor humidity is out of the target humidity range, the controller 802 can control the compressor 812, the electronic expansion valve 814 and the blower fan 123 according to the second dehumidification mode, so that the indoor humidity can reach the target humidity range again .

Until the command for ending the dehumidification is received, for this reason, if the indoor humidity enters the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeat the operation of stopping the driving compressor 812; and if the indoor humidity departs from the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeat Operation of the compressor 812 is driven. Alternatively, until a command to end dehumidification is received, the controller 802 may continue to control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity does not deviate from the target humidity range.

In operation 660, if a command to end dehumidification is received through the input unit 804, the controller 802 may end performing the dehumidification function.

Referring to FIGS. 27 and 30 , in operation 700, if a dehumidification command is received through the input unit 804, in operation 710, the controller 802 of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may control the driving of the compressor 812 so as to circulate refrigeration. The dose is equal to or greater than a1, the electronic expansion valve 814 can be controlled so that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 is equal to or greater than b1, and the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c can be controlled so that the RPM of at least one blower fan 123 is equal to or Less than c2 rpm.

According to the current embodiment, the dehumidification command input through the input unit 804 may be a command for setting the above-mentioned fourth dehumidification mode. If the dehumidification command is received, the controller 802 may control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity may reach a target humidity range. In this case, the controller 802 may control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 as in the dehumidification according to the dehumidification of the first dehumidification mode. At this time, the circulating refrigerant amount may be controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value a1, and the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 may also be controlled to be equal to or greater than the target value b1.

However, according to the current embodiment, the controller 802 of the air conditioner may drive at least one blower among the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c at an RPM decreased to a predetermined level according to the second dehumidification mode instead of the first dehumidification mode. fan123. In other words, the controller 802 may drive one of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c at an RPM c2 (c2=c1-r) (or less) obtained by subtracting a predetermined value r from the RPM c1 of the first dehumidification mode. At least one blower fan 123 .

According to the current embodiment, by driving the blower fan 123 at a predetermined level of RPM reduced from when the dehumidification function starts to be performed to a level at which the user hardly feels cooling accompanied by dehumidification, the amount of air discharged from the air conditioner can be reduced. . Also, in this case, the controller 802 may control the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 of the blower fan units 120a, 120b, and 120c to close all outlets so that air can only pass through The tiny openings in the top panel are vented. Although the volume or velocity of the exhaust air has decreased due to the reduced RPM of the blower fan 123, the controller 802 may adjust the door elements 121a-5, 121b-5, and 121c-5 to close the outlets, thereby further reducing the perceived coldness of the user. air level.

In addition, until the indoor temperature reaches the target temperature range, the controller 802 may drive all of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c at the RPM decreased to a predetermined level. If the indoor temperature enters the target temperature range, the controller 802 may stop driving some of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c, and if the indoor temperature becomes equal to or less than the lower limit of the target temperature range, the controller 802 may only Any one of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c is driven or all of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c are stopped. For example, if the indoor temperature enters the target temperature range, the controller 802 may stop driving the third blower fan 123c among the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c, and control the third door element 121c-5 to close the third outlet. If the indoor temperature becomes equal to or lower than the lower limit of the target temperature range, the controller 802 may only drive the first blower fan 123a, and control the second door element 121b-5 and the third door element 121c-5 to close the second outlet and the second door element. Three exits. Or, as described above, the controller 802 may stop driving all of the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c, and close all of the outlets.

If the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range in operation 720 , the controller 802 may stop driving the compressor 812 and the blower fan 123 in operation 730 . Thereafter, if the indoor humidity deviates from the target humidity range in operation 740, in operation 750, the controller 802 may control the driving of the compressor 812 so that the circulating refrigerant amount is equal to or less than a2, and may control the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the electronic The opening degree of the expansion valve 814 is equal to or less than b2, and the first to third blower fans 123a to 123c may be controlled such that the RPM of at least one blower fan 123 is equal to or less than c2 rpm.

The humidity sensor 805 can sense changes in indoor humidity in real time, and the controller 802 can also determine whether the indoor humidity reaches a target humidity range based on the result sensed by the humidity sensor 805 . If the controller 802 determines that the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range, the controller 802 may stop driving the compressor 812 .

If the controller 802 determines that the indoor humidity is out of the target humidity range, the controller 802 may control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor temperature may reach the target humidity range again. In this case, the difference between the indoor humidity and the target humidity range is likely to be smaller than when dehumidification was initially performed. Therefore, when the indoor humidity deviates from the target humidity range, on the assumption that the difference between the indoor temperature and the target humidity range is not large, dehumidification can be performed with a higher priority for power saving with respect to the time taken for dehumidification . In other words, after the indoor humidity reaches the target humidity range, the air conditioner may perform dehumidification according to the second dehumidification mode.

When dehumidifying according to the second dehumidification mode, the controller 802 may control the driving of the compressor 812 to cycle through the refrigerant amount a2 (a2=a1-q) obtained by subtracting a predetermined amount q from the refrigerant amount a1 of the first dehumidification mode (or less). In order to compensate for the reduced circulating refrigerant amount, the controller 802 may control the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 814 becomes the opening degree b2 obtained by subtracting a predetermined value d from the opening degree b1 in the first dehumidification mode ( b2=b1-d) (or less). In addition, the controller 802 may select the blower fan 123 to be driven according to the indoor temperature, and at an RPM c2 (c2=c1-r) (or less) obtained by subtracting a predetermined value r from the RPM c1 of the first dehumidification mode. The selected blower fan 123 is driven.

Until the command for ending the dehumidification is received, for this reason, if the indoor humidity enters the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeat the operation of stopping the driving compressor 812; and if the indoor humidity departs from the target humidity range, the controller 802 may repeat Operation of compressor 812 is driven. Alternatively, until a command to end dehumidification is received, the controller 802 may continue to control the compressor 812 and the electronic expansion valve 814 so that the indoor humidity does not deviate from the target humidity range.

If a command to end dehumidification is received through the input unit 804 in operation 760, the controller 802 may end performing the dehumidification function.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the air conditioner may sense indoor temperature or indoor humidity to select an operation for maintaining the temperature or humidity of the indoor space within a comfortable temperature or humidity range.

In addition, when the temperature or humidity of the indoor space is within a comfortable temperature or humidity range, low-speed cooling may be performed through the outlet hole instead of the outlet to keep the indoor space at a comfortable temperature or humidity and prevent cold air discharged from the air conditioner from directly reaching users. In addition, by performing low-speed cooling through the outlet hole formed in the lower portion of the air conditioner, it is possible to cool the lower area of the indoor space to a comfortable temperature when the user is asleep.

In addition, by operating the blower fan of the air conditioner based on the time and temperature when the blower fan is stopped, condensation that may occur in the air conditioner can be prevented, and a dehumidification function with a low cooling effect can be realized.

The air conditioner and its control method have been described based on the embodiments with reference to the drawings. However, the air conditioner and its control method are not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples in various aspects. Although several embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described, those skilled in the art should appreciate that modifications can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principle and spirit of the present disclosure. requirements and their equivalents.

Claims (15)

1. a kind of air-conditioning, including：

Housing；

Heat exchanger, is configured to and is drawn into the air in the inside of the housing of the air-conditioning and carry out heat exchange；

Blower fan, is configured to the outside of the air through heat exchange towards the housing is mobile；

Outlet, is configured to the air through heat exchange from the blower fan being emitted into the outside of the housing；

Outlet opening, is configured to the air through heat exchange from the blower fan being emitted into the outside of the housing；With And

Controller, is configured to indoor temperature and closes the outlet less than or equal to predetermined value, and pass through the outlet Discharge the air through heat exchange to cause the indoor temperature to keep being in the predetermined value in hole.

2. air-conditioning according to claim 1, wherein the outlet includes multiple outlets, and

The controller is configured to the indoor temperature and closes the multiple outlet less than or equal to the predetermined value A part, to discharge the air through heat exchange by the outlet opening.

3. air-conditioning according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to：It is less than or equal to based on the indoor temperature The predetermined value, reduces the speed of the blower fan to reduce the speed of the air discharged by the outlet opening.

4. air-conditioning according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to：It is more than based on the indoor temperature described pre- Definite value, increases the speed of the blower fan, to increase at least one in the outlet and the outlet opening by opening The speed of the air of person's discharge.

5. a kind of air-conditioning, including：

Housing；

Heat exchanger, is configured to and is drawn into the air in the inside of the housing of the air-conditioning and carry out heat exchange；

Blower fan, is configured to the outside of the air through heat exchange towards the housing is mobile；

Outlet, is configured to the air through heat exchange from the blower fan being emitted into the outside of the housing；

Outlet opening, is configured to the air through heat exchange from the blower fan being emitted into the outside of the housing；With And

Controller, is configured to indoor humidity and closes the outlet less than or equal to predetermined value, and pass through the outlet Hole air of the discharge through heat exchange causes the indoor humidity to keep being in the predetermined value.

6. air-conditioning according to claim 5, wherein the outlet includes multiple outlets, and

The controller is configured to：The predetermined value is less than or equal to based on the indoor humidity, close multiple outlets one Divide and discharge the air through heat exchange to pass through the outlet opening.

7. air-conditioning according to claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to：It is less than or equal to based on the indoor humidity The predetermined value, reduces the speed of the blower fan to reduce the speed of the air discharged by the outlet opening.

8. air-conditioning according to claim 5, wherein, if the indoor humidity is more than the predetermined value, the control Device is configured to open the outlet；And the controller is configured to the indoor humidity more than the predetermined value, increase The speed of the blower fan with increase at least one of the outlet and described outlet opening by opening discharge sky The speed of gas.

9. a kind of air-conditioning, including：

Housing,

Heat exchanger, the air for being configured to and being drawn into the inside of the housing of the air-conditioning carries out heat exchange；

Blower fan, is configured to the outside of the air through heat exchange towards the housing is mobile；

Outlet, is configured to the air through heat exchange from the blower fan being emitted into the outside of the housing；

Outlet opening, is configured to the air through heat exchange from the blower fan being emitted into the outside of the housing；With And

Controller, is configured to determine whether condensed in the air-conditioning, and is made described based on the generation condensation is determined Blower fan rotates discharges the air through heat exchange to pass through the outlet opening.

10. air-conditioning according to claim 9, wherein the outlet includes multiple outlets,

The blower fan includes multiple blower fans corresponding with the multiple outlet respectively, and

The controller is configured to：Based on determining occur the condensation, make the air blower wind among the multiple blower fan Fan rotates discharges the air through heat exchange to pass through the outlet opening.

11. air-conditioning according to claim 9, wherein the controller revolves the blower fan with predetermined time interval Turn.

12. air-conditioning according to claim 9, wherein the controller makes the blower fan rotation lasts scheduled time Section.

13. air-conditioning according to claim 9, wherein the temperature based on time and the front panel being arranged in the housing At least one of determine whether to occur the condensation.

14. air-conditioning according to claim 10, wherein being made a reservation for based on passing through after the blower fan stops the rotation Period determines whether occur the condensation.

15. air-conditioning according to claim 10, wherein the temperature based on the front panel being arranged in the housing is less than Or determine whether to occur the condensation equal to dew-point temperature.